A family goes thru various phases when dealing with a murder case. For couple months we’ve been in a ‘limbo’ stage, waiting for perhaps one or both defendants to enter a plea as vs. their going to trial, and facing a jury. Been very quiet from the defendants and I’m told that’s the norm in this type of case. The pretrial motions will be argued in September, the trial in November. The trial may not even occur if they enter guilty pleas. There of course will be sentencing no matter what route the boys take to get there. That’s one thing I play over and over in my mind, what I’ll say at their sentencing.
I’ve kept busy with the case in a couple ways …. I’ve written this blog to keep Marc’s justice in our family/friends heart, and the public eye. I’ve been in contact with the Victim Advocate to get certain issues understood. In contact with the reporter from the Oregonian. I’m going up to Portland again to deal with some last details of Marc’s affairs. Couple other things I don’t have the liberty to share, as they pertain to the defendants.
But this new life of pain without Marc keeps bearing fruit. People are still giving me the most tender of condolences, or sharing how my blog has touched their hearts. They have been kind to bring me food or call or text out of the blue to cheer me up. Some have shared their near death experiences. Love is a lot closer than we think, too bad a tragedy has to happen to find that out.
Jesus told us, ‘Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.’ Mt 5:4. Mourning is different from just saying ‘I’m sorry it happened’. It’s about feeling a person’s pain, talking or crying with them, remembering how it must be to start each day with the memory of ‘loss’. It’s about wanting to pray for, or send comfort as you know there are nights when the victims family may be crying themselves to sleep.
Don’t hesitate to get involved when someone has lost a loved one, you can’t imagine how your little token of love may help lift their hearts.