Saturday, May 24, 2008

gentle reassurance

imagine this: you're a parent. a responsible person with a responsible job and you're trying to be a good parent but there's no instruction manual. things aren't perfect and at some point you and your wife divorce with the twins (a boy and a girl) going to live with the ex-. you get re-married and things go well with your job, but the boy can't stay out of trouble. over the years the boy is in-and-out of juvie. the girl is killed in a bad car accident. you continue to do well at work and are well-liked. one day you show up at work and your son's picture is on the bulletin board as being wanted by the police for murder. there are witnesses to the confrontation, the fight, the stabbing.

this happened to a friend of mine last week. he hasn't been back to work for a week and the kid is on the lam. everyone feels for this guy but what do we say when he comes back to work? i don't want to pretend things aren't the way they are -- the elephant in the living room thing. i hate preaching, moralizing, platitudes, but i'm just not quite sure what to say.

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