So...the family is rounded up, grand kids in tow and we head for the campground for a smoresfest. Part of the jamboree is a pink, polka dotted elephant wearing a clown hat and neon red lipstick.
Comes the day when questions about this outing arise...and nobody at the smoresfest remembers seeing, hearing, smelling, touching, petting, riding, tickling or talking to or about the elephant. One member of the party has gone missing. Two members of the party are totally zipped. The other member of the smoresfest admits it took place - but saw no elephant.
Since the missing guy is a moot point and the two zipped up members of the soiree are, well...zipped up. The remaining member gives up lawyer naughtiness and a touch of "Family Feud". Still no elephant. The situation requires meat, but is instead showered with molecular-sized bread crumbs. Armchair analysts of all stripes seize the bread crumbs and dissect them...looking for an elephant. Ain't there.
The court of public opinion is a fickle thing that gobbles breadcrumbs and extrapolates the shadow of elephants in the ciphering out of them as they are digested and eventually expelled.
Result? Buttoned lips, a fugitive on the run who knows where and a snipe hunt as big as the invasion of Stalingrad.
Still no elephant.
The sobering truth is nothing of substance will come from the Laundrie side of this horrible saga. Everyone will have to wait while the excruciatingly slow process that is the legal system either produces a fugitive or winds down and enters the world of cold cases. In which case, patience will not only be a virtue, but a necessity.
Nothing wrong with being furious. Fury tempered with wisdom and patience is very effective stuff.
In the meantime, there's an opportunity to express compassion, feel genuine sorrow for a young life expunged, and educate our daughters and sons about the signs and dangers of trying to fix people who need every ounce of your energy for repair...and never get repaired. The slap or punch you take and forgive, could have you lying decomposing where only miracles can find you.
MOOing...