A little girl passed away after getting out of her home in the middle of the night where New Hampshire temperatures hit below zero and people are saying the most awful things.
This is the first question that comes to mind anytime I see a tragic story on the news or more realistically, shared on Facebook:
What happened to humanity?
The most recent time this question came to mind was the other day when a little 2 ½ year old girl was found dead outside of a family apartment building. The news story covers this as a pure accident, a true tragedy that could happen to any of us. Our worst parental nightmare comes true, a child gets out of the home while the family is asleep and cannot get back inside. Worst case scenario is that the child has to stay outside until their parents wake up because they don’t know how to get the door open, but the reality of one family in my hometown is that their little girl will no longer be going to sleep in her bed, waking up in the home or having memories being made every day like a 2 ½ year old should be able to experience. This little girl has passed away, and it’s so heartbreaking.
I’m going to go ahead and assume that this child was taken care of the best possible way, as we all tend to do as parents, we do our best to raise our children and ensure they’re as safe as we possibly can make them. The parents are already suffering from the grief, that I cannot even begin to understand the feeling of, losing a child. A child, a little girl who had a twin brother, parents, and family that adored her. This little baby girl, at the age of 2 ½ was stuck outside in negative temperatures in New Hampshire. I also cannot even imagine the feeling of the neighbors who heard a child crying at 4 am, but couldn’t find any child only to wake up at 7 am and find this little girl frozen solid outside of the apartment building.
I cannot even begin to describe what this must feel like. I simply know that it makes my heart ache deeply so and I don’t even personally know this family.
That’s not where my question came into play. My question came into play when I started to read comments online about this tragic accident. There are people, legit parents, out there saying that this was neglect or that the parents obviously didn’t secure their home good enough or didn’t care, the list goes on and on. It’s downright awful and ridiculously presumptuous given that most of these people who are making negative commentary don’t even know the family. Again, I don’t even know the family.
So, let me get this straight – because your child never had a tragic accident like this happen you’re more of a parent than this family is? Because you haven’t had to experience the death of a child while raising children, you’re more of a parent than this family is? Because you never had to experience such a tragedy while bringing up children, you just know how this unfolded and it’s the parents to blame?
Let me just tell you this, none of us know what we’re doing in parenthood. I have three children, they are 16, 12 and 10 and yes, some days I have no idea what I’m doing! I literally wing it most days other days I seem to get a feeling that I’m doing something right in this parenting world. Not a single parent on this Earth knew what they were doing the day they were given a little child to hold, raise and protect. We all simply do our best and this family doesn’t deserve to hear people belittling them based on the “area of town they live in” or any other reason for that matter. They deserve to have that little girl back, alive, in their arms to raise into adulthood, but they won’t get that back. They are mourning the loss of a little girl who, by pure accident, happened to get outside and couldn’t get back inside on a night where temperatures went below zero.
I literally can feel tears coming to my eyes as I type this blog post. I just hope that some of you will take a long look in the mirror and ask yourself if you’re perfect. Have you not ever made a mistake? Did you not do stupid things as a child that perhaps could have put you in the same position as this little girl? Did you not ever make a mistake in your life? If you can tell me that you are completely perfect, free of any mistakes, then fine – go be judgemental and mean, but I highly doubt any one of us can say we’re perfect.
Click here to read the news article on the story that has me so worked up about humanity.
There’s a little girl who froze outside, alone, in the dark all because she was just doing what little kids do – they get curious and sometimes their curiosity puts them in danger. If this had happened when the family was awake, we’d be quite possibly talking about a different outcome but instead, for whatever reason, this little 2 ½ year old girl woke up with a curious mind to go outside and now a family is mourning the loss of what I’ve read was a sweet little girl with the most beautiful blue eyes.
So I ask you this, why is it when tragedy hits that we sit back and say that this wouldn’t ever happen to us? That a family probably was just neglectful due to where they live in town? What is it that makes those comments necessary or even worthy of saying to another human being when an accidental tragedy hits?
I ask you this – what happened to humanity? And in case you want to know what I mean, here’s the definition of humanity based on what I mean today:
Humanity – adjective. BrE /ˈhjuːmən/ ; NAmE /ˈhjuːmən/ 1 [only before noun] of or connected with people rather than animals, machines or gods the human body/brain human anatomy/activity/behaviour/experience a terrible loss of human life Contact with other people is a basic human need.
I am hoping that humanity can come back someday, I am hoping that one day I’ll wake up to see more compassion in this world we live in. I continue seeing the light in the darkness that social media seems to fuel. Social media gives us an outlet, one in which we can instantly make a comment on something sharing our opinion, but sometimes, just sometimes, we should pause before we type out the first thing that comes to mind. Pause for just a moment and put yourself in that person’s shoes, if you still feel that opinion or comment is how you feel or is necessary, then, by all means, type it out and click SEND, but if not, if you have any doubt about this comment being worthy of typing out and sending, then simply delete it and scroll on by. I was raised by this one simple rule, and I think that the world could use a reminder of it:
It really makes me want to put my kids in a bubble, but sadly, that isn’t possible. All we can do is try to be the chance and help our communities.
It saddens me that the world has come to be what it is now . I always think, “Is this the kind of world my children and grandchildren will live in?” I know there is still hope. And for us who still believe, let us start creating ripples of kindness.
Looking at the scenario it is easy to blame, yet I don’t. It could have been my child, my fault or not. Had it been my fault, I would have to live with the guilt and nightmares the rest of my life, which would ultimately destroy any kind of life I had left. So, anyone’s judgment toward me would not even be necessary.
I am praying for this family. Such a tragic loss.
Without personal knowledge of what happened, none of us are in any place to judge. Kids get themselves in situations all the time, tragedies happen (unfortunately) and while some are due to neglect, many are not.
We were appalled when we heard the story too. I mean, who doesn’t notice their 2yr old leaving the apartment in the middle of the night? They can’t even reach the lock on the door!
I ask myself this ALL THE TIME. Our world has become such a sad place