Sunday, November 4, 2012

In Which I Get Attached To People I've Never Met

A couple weeks ago, it was Whitney Heichel.  I was sad when I read about her on the news and had no idea she was one of Jehovah's Witnesses.  I was hoping they would find her, but thinking it hardly seemed likely.  I was thinking how pretty she was and how adorable her husband was and how cute and happy they looked together.  Then I read on facebook that she was one of Jehovah's Witnesses.  All the sudden, it's different.  She's one of ours!  If I lived where she did, she'd be my friend and I'd work with her in service and I'd have been at her wedding and bridal shower.  It's just amazing how much it really affects (did I do it right this time?) us when we find out something has happened to one of us.  We call each-other brother and sister, and you don't realize just how true those terms are.  So you read about something like that, and then you find out it's your sister, and suddenly the stakes are so much higher, and you feel like you know her, and her mom personally, even though you really don't.  Then the bad news starts rolling in and I'm crying reading the news online, and then I'm crying reading the posts her friends and family made on facebook.  Then I'm crying looking through the photos from her funeral and seeing all the friends, in a Kingdom Hall, dealing with the loss.  I'm thinking that I'm gonna just have to quit looking at the pictures and reading about it all because it's just making me sad and I don't actually know her or her family, and there's no use being sad for someone I don't know when there are so many people to be sad for that I DO actually know. 
About that time, I start reading about the little two year old boy with the spiky hair and the adorable grin who loves Lightning McQueen and got hit in the head by a large tree limb when Sandy was coming through Georgia.  And then I find out that his family is in the same congregation with my cousin and also an old friend, and they are hurting about it because they're watching his family hurting about it.  And the little boy's parents are also Witnesses, and once again, he's not just an adorable little two year-old boy, he's one of ours.  If his family were in my congregation, his mom and I would be stuck in the mother's room together with our children.  He's not just any kid, he's family.  Now I'm checking for updates several times a day to see if he's still hanging on, and how he's doing, and worrying cuz tonight, they're gonna try to slowly take him out of his medically induced coma, and his mommy's a nervous wreck about it.  So I'm a nervous wreck about it too.  I hope it helps somehow to have the prayers and support of thousands of brothers and sisters who don't actually know you.  I wish I could DO something for his family.  But there's only one thing I can do for them, so I'll be praying for little Tripp Halstead and for his parents and his family.  Hoping that everything turns out ok for them, and that if it doesn't, they'll have the strength to endure. 

9 comments:

  1. Part of me wishes the world wasn't quite so small, and I didn't have to hear about all the awful things that happen. Part of me is glad that it is, so I am aware of the full scope of possibility (yes, totally evil things can happen to all of us,) and can pray for the survivors.

    All of me wishes that terrible things didn't happen to innocent people at all!

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  2. Once again you were able to put into eloquent words how we all feel when "one of ours" is hurt for any reason. It bring home just how much we love each other in this wonderful organzation we are all so privileged to be a part of.

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  3. I work for some friends in a nearby congregation and I just learned that Stacy, Tripp's mom, used to work at the RBC bank at the bottom of our hill and we would take our deposits to her and it was really nice to see a friendly sister's face nearly every day and she is a delightful person to deal with. I live in Suwanee, GA and have seen the pictures and news reports of little Tripp, but didn't realize until just now that he is a brother and then found your site. My heart also bleeds especially for our brothers and sisters experiencing tragedy. Not much longer and we will all be together in peace forever. We truly are a worldwide family. Jehovah is the greatest God and Father in creation!

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  4. Thank you Shelly, Yes there are so many sad things in this world. We are all especially affected by the things that happen to our brothers and sisters even if we don't know them. If pray is all we can do, that is still truly sonething in Jehovah's organization. Prayer helps us all.

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  5. Well said, sis. We all feel so close to one another no matter wear we live. I live here in Oregon and even thought I didn't personally know Whitney, I felt exactly the same way. Watching the news every day and crying over this beautiful sister. She was so special and made such an impact on the entire community. This little boy is doing the same. We all want him to get well and we will be praying for his recovery. Love and hugs, Susan

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  6. I'm right there with you! I was a wreck over Whitney and now little Tripp. You DO hurt FOR them. At least we know there will be an end to all of this and that is our "light at the end of the tunnel".

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  7. Hi sis. I feel just the same as all of you! We're all part of one body and when one member of the body hurts, we all feel it. Someday, nobody will say "I am sick". When that day comes, we'll all be able to meet eventually and get to know each other under happy circumstances always!
    Philia,
    Angie

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