webweaved
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- Aug 2, 2015
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I have to say as someone who has lost a child, the 'stages of grief' theory is just that. A theory. And I see no bargaining with the killer. Bereavement isn't a process of cycles, and even if this perp is caught these parents will bear the burden of grief for the rest of their lives. I have no idea what's inside their heads about police or the perp or why there are reports of closing in for an arrest. What I can say is that what anyone sees or hears in a news byte or a claim by a reporter, or even in an interview with the parents, is a blip on the screen of the experience of the Vetrano family.
There is no moving from one emotion/stage to another as if to have completed a series of tasks and having moved on to a new set. This is very early into their experience and they haven't even begun to fully feel the range of emotions and cognition/processing struggles and even physical symptoms that will more and more manifest as time passes. This is just the beginning, and these poor people are still deeply shocked. I'm seven months out from losing my son and I still wake up at times with my heart pounding, thinking the police will be at more door any minute to notify me and I have to stop my child's death before they do. This is the crazy-making impact of profound grief and wrenching trauma. I still stop in the middle of the grocery store over the yogurt or the meat counter and think, "What? My child is dead? That makes no sense." And I still have waves of being so distraught that I feel as if my head will explode. This type of grief is extremely dynamic, often like an ambush when you least expect it, and definitely like a revolving door you cannot seem to exit while simultaneously riding a typhoon on a skateboard. The trauma is so severe that you don't even recognize your surroundings at times, and have to wind your way back to your physical reality. This type of disorientation/re-entering the atmosphere sensation can happen full circle in a second or two. Imagine being rocketed from a sense of being firmly planted on the ground, to outer space, and back to your living room in that span of time. Add to that the additionally traumatic experience of this father having found his murdered daughter and viewed what was done to her in death by this monster that ended her life.
And yes, at some point you are coming and going from work, getting the groceries bought and the lawn mowed, etc. But that isn't a 'getting better'...it's just life hauling you forward while the afore-mentioned experiences are happening at the same time.
I say this to offer a lens into what the survivors are in for and to perhaps mitigate the impression that they are moving through or mastering stages. What they are doing is trying to navigate and find some equilibrium in a personal world that has been shattered. I look to the facts as I understand them according to known investigative information, and I simply feel compassion for the Vetranos, with no judgement or definition of their process. I don't say this to be critical at all; I say it because 'grief culture' is sending messages that don't help the bereaved or those who genuinely want to understand and/or comfort them.
FWIW: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/megan-devine/stages-of-grief_b_4414077.html
In the meantime, I hope they catch this killer soon because another woman is likely soon going to be victimized.
And I wish Karina's parents drops of comfort and moments of peace as they live lives that are forever altered and absent of their daughter's lovely and vibrant presence.
JMO
Jilly
