So, after recently posting about living without fear, crime and tragedy hits our quiet little country lane last night. Two neighbors, four and five houses away from us, respectively, apparently have had difficulties with each other; mainly, the fifth neighbor toward the fourth neighbor (the fifth neighbor having a history of this type of unneighborly conduct wherever he lives, as well as alcohol abuse). So, while the man of the fourth house is out of state, the fifth neighbor takes the fourth neighbor family hostage. Yep, that’s right, a hostage situation with a gun down the street from us. Four hostages; all of them shot (a teen boyfriend, a teen girl, and the stepmother); one more seriously (a young teen boy and I don’t know how he’s doing today yet). The police were able to finally get a clear shot of the hostage taker and shot and killed him. The boyfriend had escaped to get the police involved to begin with, and he had released the stepmother and daughter, but they had to get to the boy still after they were able to kill him.
My prayers are out to the family.
Crime had also touched us at the old neighborhood. Our direct neighbor had locked his hunting rifle in his truck late one night after hunting, and that evening, someone smashed the window and stole it. When the police came out that night, they had their tracking dogs, and the dogs picked up a scent that went through our yard, next to our cars, and then to the neighbors, and then out the back field. He was not caught.
This is due to an increase cheap cialis in the growth of hair that had thinned from androgenic alopecia.
However, I stand beside my choice to not raise my children in fear. I equip them with good sense, and then I let them live. This world is not always pretty. I know that going into it. This is actually why we left the old neighborhood. My feelings are if I’m going to be hassled by a neighbor, I’m leaving. So, we did. I didn’t worry about physical harm, but emotional harm. These neighbors up the street had been physically threatened before and there was a restraining order. The father decided to stand his ground. I’m not sure what they’ll decide now.
Bad things do happen whether one decides to choose to live without fear, or to those who choose to live in fear. I accept that, even though it sucks. Life still has much good to offer.
What a horrible tragedy. 🙁 I hope and pray everyone survives. But — no — it shouldn’t change your parenting philosophy and style. While a tragedy like this can shatter people’s illusions that we can be perfectly safe in any community or neighborhood, they don’t really change the world — a place where acts of brutality happen all the time, but where most people are basically peaceful and decent and knowledge and wariness are generally FAR better than fear.
What an awful situation. My prayers are with those families. I admire you for holding your ground. This crime had a history, and sad as it is, it is actually quite different from what the fear-mongers fear.
That is a horrible! What a senseless tragedy.
So good to see you. Please send me your email address. I have an old one. I will send the pictures.