Most importantly I hope they set up a trust to pay for serious life-long support. Shasta Groene has had a difficult life mired with drug abuse and her own troubles with the law (which IMO is understandable given the horrors she survived). Everyone cared when she was a news story but no ones helping her now. Even the house she was given ended up in a legal battle. So people who are so sure Jayme will have everything she needs should take a look at other victims of abuse. Elizabeth Smart is the exception, not the rule. She realizes this better than anyone and has dedicated her life to helping others avoid the common tragedy cycle.
I agree with you 100%.
I don't want to sound elitist, but as I am former LDS, Elizabeth Smart had things going for her which most surviving young adults don't have.
1) Her parents immense wealth allowed her to get therapy and all kinds of extra special modalities: equine therapy, art therapy, whatever helped her most to relax and heal her heart.
2) Because of her parents' status in the LDS church, she has and had an immense support system already in place which was extremely accepting and genuinely loving. Her rescue was truly a miracle.
Most younger survivors do not come from wealthy or even upper middle class homes, but often from extended broken families. I can't think of another abducted and rescued young person who has had the advantages Elizabeth had and has and this may adversely affect things like later substance abuse, possibly falling into the sex worker trade, and things like homelessness and abandonment of young children to " the system".
This is not in any way meant to diminish what Elizabeth Smart has done, become and advocates for others, but it does set her apart in tangible ways. One other advantage Elizabeth has which Jayme will never be able to have is the support of all her siblings, especially her sister who saw her be kidnapped and helped her be found.
We are so blessed to have her be an advocate in Washington for victims' rights, and for survivors' assistance. She is truly a beautiful soul, inside and outside.
From an objective point of view, and with NO " shade" cast on Elizabeth, very few wealthy children or teens have been kidnapped, assaulted, and released alive in the past 30 years. Elizabeth is the shining example of having resources and so many loving people with the financial means to get her the very best assistance. I'm thankful for her and for the help she is providing to others so very much, and I prayed and hoped for her every day she was missing. I know she'a a miracle child kept safe by mighty angels surrounding her.
We need more resources for these brave and very special young people so they can learn new ways of life which are full of educational and cultural experiences and growth. Programs which truly teach self- worth and composure, critical thinking congruent or ahead of chronological age, and a burning desire for high achievements and life excellence. Writing this, it sounds like I'm a cross between Miss Manners and Mary Poppins, but the ways we think about life, interests in the arts,history, and science; the ability to stand up and speak well and eloquently of hardships and personal victories seems to be a huge factor in later life successes.
I would loved to have anonymously fostered one of the past's young rescued girls and taught her about self- forgiveness ( the guilt is great even though it is absolutely only the perpetrator's guilt) and inspired her to love all the good and great things in our world and her life, but we don't live in a society which supports or even allows this sort of thing with a teen survivor of abduction and prolonged abuse.
This last part is not about Jayme, who seems to have a casual type of loving family but to the girls we have seen struggle to make their way as adults. Most of us know who has had arrests and seemed to not find their true and peaceful self after deprivation and abuse. It's really a marvelous wonder when a few manage to do so honestly.
I have high hopes for Jayme because of her age, because she has had many healthy physical activities which are beneficial to the mind and body, and because she has a loving family who was willing to go on national TV with her dog and a bottle of Starbucks when it was not known if the family at large was being targeted, if her parents were, or if she was the main target.
They love her enough to be brave, which is one of my main definitions of what loving really IS.
God bless Jayme, her aunts and uncles, cousins, and grandparents tonight and always.
A Wells Fargo truck of gold can't make a miserable person happy again, but a loving and helpful extended family likely goes a long way towards regaining a sense of normalcy and love. ( I never had an extended family so I don't know what it feels like).
