Tragedy in the neighborhood

The loss of a young life is never easy. We can all sympathize or empathize with a mother or a father whose child has lost their life. No one wakes up in the morning thinking that by the time they go to bed, their 7 year old will no longer be with them.

Scott Goldstein’s DMN story here.

Channel 11 here.

As the news reported tonight, a tragic accident occurred in our neighborhood today. The life of a young boy who I knew very well was cut short late this afternoon.

On Friday evening he was playing in my yard as my mom watched, and came over looking to play with my son on yesterday. I had to tell him my youngster was out of town. I’ll never forget his exclaimed look upon hearing that his friend would be gone for a week. It was so cute that I shared his reaction with my wife this morning. Not in a million years would I have imagined that would be my last time seeing him.

The name of the boy has not been released and I won’t release it here. He and my son were very close, and because my boy is out of town, he still doesn’t know. My wife and I haven’t even figured out what we’re going to say to him or when. We can only pray and ask God for guidance.

The news cameras started rolling in around 7:30 p.m. as I knew they would. They’ve got a job to do and I understand that. For the most part, none of us in the neighborhood really wanted to talk about what happened, at least not on camera. What they wanted was some to talk about what type of child he was, but it just didn’t feel right.

I would like to take this time to say that the child whose life was lost today was a really good young boy and he was always welcome in our home. He and his siblings were frequent guests, especially when school was not in session. He often told me about how he was doing in school and was very mannerable, always calling me “Mr. Shawn.” But most of all he loved to play. He and my son would swing, or ride bikes, or play tennis, or any other thing that they could think of falling under the heading of “play.” My wife and I loved him.

One thing some of the neighbors realized after this tragedy is how little we know about one another. It’s one of the sad realities in neighborhoods across the country as our worlds get more and more myopic.

I just ask that everyone pray for the family in this difficult time of grief. There will be no more posts until Tuesday.