Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Desperations of a Wounded Mother

Image from: http://lovejays.com/2013/10/08/struggling-with-depression/


I have been compelled to write this post. I will be as respectful as possible and am not looking to be a martyr. I just have feelings, thoughts and insights that I would like to share, based on a recent local news event. Specifically, an old high school class mate that has allegedly committed murder-suicide on herself and two young children, ages six and seven. The medical examiners are still wrapping things up, so there is still the tiniest bit of hope that the toxicology reports could refute these preliminary findings, but I will admit, my hopes are not high. This is quite tragic and has sent my mind spinning. I am saddened.

Let me begin by admitting I was not close with Stephanie Miskowiec Shields, or as I knew her, Steph. We were only acquaintances in high school and graduated together in the Class of '96. Our graduating class was nearly 600 and knowing everyone was rather impossible. I do remember her though, but have not seen her since. What I do remember is that she was a sweet girl, kind of quiet and petite. She had beautiful eyes that twinkled when she smiled and when she wore her hair up and pulled back from her face she was quite beautiful. She was friendly to me, although we just had the kind of relationship where you say "Hi, how are you?" in the hall at passing time and move on with your day. We had very few classes together, as our interests were very different: she loved Cross-Country anything and my world revolved around music and theatre. At 35 years old, looking back, this whole situation blows my mind. How could life have become so sad for Steph that this was the only way she felt she could cope? I am not expecting to ever be able to answer this question definitively.

There have been many murder-suicides at the hand of the mother over the last many years; Lashanda Armstrong, Susan Smith, Andrea Yates, Melanie Reyes and Mayra Perez, just to name a few. Most of us can not fathom what could possibly bring a mother to the edge so severely. In my mind I say that there is no way in the spectrum of the world that anything would ever make me take the lives of my children, no matter what. Now that Steph is gone and I can sort of say I knew someone who did this horrific thing, is it really fair of me to conclude my thoughts so absolute? Now, I can not bring myself to judge Steph as harshly as I have knee-jerk judged the other mothers in history who have done the same terrible thing. My mind had just been opened, not necessarily for the better.

In the last 35 years I have had my fair share of trials and tribulations. I have had my private desperate moments where I contemplated if it would just be better for everyone involved and easier on myself to give up, doubting my abilities, strengths and will, both before I had children and after. I have rarely spoken of these moments to anyone before because it is embarrassing and a little shameful when I admit weakness, but after watching the tornado of comments flying around on facebook, and the like, I feel strong enough to admit it, this is my way of respecting the memory of Stephanie. I am sure many of you out there have had a mental slip up or two and considered the possibilities. All alone, crying for hours, mind spinning out of control, maybe sitting curled up on the bathroom floor, afraid to move, just in case. Then again, maybe not. I will say that the thought of taking my childrens' lives has truly never once crossed my mind. Never. They are my world, my reason to live and walk upon this Earth. I believe I was put here for them, I was made to be their mother.

That being said, I know we are all made differently. I was able to push through my moments of despair. I have a very strong and supportive family. If anything were to ever happen to me, either self inflicted or not, my children would be taken care of. I also know that there are many factors to consider, when you are thinking about the possibility of not being around for your children anymore: who could afford to raise them properly, who would be willing to bear that burden for me, who would be able to show them unconditional love forever, would the children be able to mentally handle me not being here anymore and/or get the counseling and support they would desperately need to move on and grow into healthy and fulfilled individuals, the list of questions goes on and on. My only conclusion is that Steph possibly had no answers for these questions and made a sad decision. She must have truly felt, in that specific moment of turmoil, that she had absolutely no other choice. Right or wrong, feelings are real and can be poisonous and painful and sometimes, unbearable.

I can sit here and say that I would never ever do the same thing until I am blue in the face and I am fairly certain that this is truthful, but I also know that I never exactly walked a day in her shoes, I may have never felt as down and out as she must have felt. I have a different family and different friends. Our mental genetics are not the same. I can say from experience that I know full well what it is like to keep deep dark secrets. Last night while I was sad and thinking of Steph I peeked at her facebook profile. The pictures are numerous and they all appear so cheerful. Many photos of her and her two gorgeous children, all smiles on bright sunny days, doing family things together out on the boat and in a marathon of some sort. The appearance of fun and as if nothing could possibly be wrong. I have been there. I have presented myself as a happy and content person to the world in my past in order to hide what was truly going on at home and in my life, behind closed doors. I felt I was strong enough to get past it, I was woman enough to remain stoic and keep getting up everyday for my childrens' sake, I would stay in my situation forever just for their happiness. I did not last forever and ten years ago I had to make some serious life changes. This was by no means easy and I had one of my dark periods where I spent most nights after the children were asleep, sobbing uncontrollably, contemplating solutions...some darker than others. Somehow, someway, I made it through; Stephanie, and many many others did/do not.

I am sorry. Sorry for Steph and all the other mothers who caved in to their darkness, sorry for the families who will never know why, sorry for the public and all of their speculations, sorry for the husbands, estranged or not, this would/will be terribly difficult to get past. But, mostly, today, I am sorry for those two sweet ginger babies that have been taken so abruptly from their community, with no say whatsoever. My heart bleeds for them. The mothers probably couldn't think ahead to the mess they would leave, their brains being so distraught and overflowing with sadness. As mothers, they wouldn't have wanted for their children to be remembered this way. An irreversible mistake. I feel extreme empathy and my heart hurts. I will hug my children a little bit harder this evening. Hug yours for me, too.





25 comments:

  1. I'm speechless... Very nice and well stated.

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  2. Thank you for this post.

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  3. Thank you for posting this!!!

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  4. You are all so very welcome. I am truly humbled by the amazing response to this post today. It was from the heart and I have been moved to tears more than once. Thank you.

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  5. Beautifully said.

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  6. I must be an odd duck because to all the "monster" comments on the various news pages - I find myself thinking in the event of any parent killing their children - mental collapse, despair, religious conviction - interesting how people forget the Book of Job, etc. If I were to take a typcial approach and tragic events like this are NEVER typical - it is often said the when men kill their children - it is for retribution towards the woman. Women, on the other hand are deemed as ill, in distress. I think as women who bear children, it is particularly troubling to understand any of this. Here is the end note - we don't have to understand it - it is a cruel world - children are killed daily - in war, by parents, for religious convictions, sacrifice, and yes, retaliation and retribution. Isn't murder always selfish? It appears for reasons that will never make sense - this young mom made the decision to take her children to the afterlife with her - perhaps there was abuse, perhaps she didn't believe a family should ever break up, perhaps there was medication or other disturbances ... I would hope that the children were medicated before they were drowned (as terrible as it is to even say this) - and there was not violence. Obviously there was pain. I understand the darkness - I am glad I never traveled the road to this extent. It is really just the slim difference with every human - at one point do we pick the road of no return. My condolences to everyone in pain from this tragedy. It will never make sense.

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  7. Thank you so much for your post. I think you have eloquently written of how many women feel, particularly for those of us who are single parents.

    I am proud of you for being able to write about your experience. From personal experience, it is exhausting keeping up the image that everything is "fine".

    Thank you!

    Again, I am so glad you have written so honestly about this subject. You have had the strength to get through some very dark moments and by writing this you have given many the inspiration that there is light at the other end.

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  8. Thank you putting into words what I have been feeling. I didn't know Stephanie but have been obsessed with this tragedy since hearing of it, and trying to understand. Thank you.

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  9. What is most revealing about this story, is that no one wants to face it. Local CBS is not even covering it any more. Sweep it under the rug, move along folks, nothing to see here. No family or friends are willing to speak. No one. The deafening silence says much about us, as a community. Hush, don't say anything, don't look, don't talk, pretend you don't know then you won't have to try to understand. Is this cold concrete wall of denial all that Stephanie had to cling to in her hours of dark desperation?

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  10. Virginia, i want to know how to best reach you for some perspective on this. i'm a local reporter who thinks your view on this has not been covered in the media. let me know.

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    1. Thank you for your interest, altough I am not sure how I would feel about "coming out." If you wish, please e-mail me at ginnylouden.blogspot@gmail.com. Please identify yourself and whom you represent. Also, if you could reference some of your previous articles/writings so I can read your work and decide if and how to proceed. I am hesitant. This was not what I expected when I was writing yesterday. I truly just had some feelings I needed to get off of my chest, especially after seeing some of the awful comments that had been flying around the web. I look forward to hearing from you. Thank you for reading me.

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  12. Ginny, this is such a true piece you wrote. Shameful of what many feel at times in trials and tribulations in life. Thank you......I didn't know Stephen personally I remember her face. I'm sorry too for her beautiful children, her husband, family, friends and for her that she didn't reach out.

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  13. I too as a 54 yr old grandmother of 6 had my dark day's & night's when i was younger ~ sitting in the bathroom shower where noone else could hear me and cry my eye's out~ the overwhelming thought's in my head of " what the hell am i doing on this earth" why am i feeling this way? ~looking into my past history i came to now know i have come from a long line of mental health issues ~ grand parents ( both sides) uncles , aunt's brother's & sister's ~ Not knowing the young mother that took the lives of her own childern I too hope that her family can find peace & I will pray that they do .

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  14. From one writer to another, I think you hit the nail on the head. There are a lot of people, especially up in that neck of the woods that will jump the gun and make assumptions and portray her as a monster. And yes, while what happened was tragic, who knows her real motive for what had been happening to her or those kids. She could have very easily been protecting them from something worse. Sometimes the end result is all that is seen in the public eye, but what goes on behind the scenes in the real issue.

    Not to create drama or issue, but until you walk a mile in someone else's shoes and live their lives, no one should be judging anyone. It is very sad and slightly supriseing that no one from the family has made a statement and no one has shed light on a possible reason for the resulting murder-suicide. It's almost like they want it to just go away, which almost looks worse. Anyway. I do feel for Stephanie as she must have been in a really bad place to take the lives of her kids as it seems like she was a very involved and active mother.

    I am sad for the children as they were obviously taken from the world too soon. Although people are not going to agree with this statement, mama bear instinct presides. Their mother very easily could have taken her own life, but for whatever reason, she felt like it was better and safer for them to not be here without her. Just food for thought....

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  16. I want to say how very much I appreciate all of the feed back and comments from readers, both the good and the bad. I respect that we all have different opinions. I have decided, after much deliberation, to delete the two comments that are a bit hateful toward Stephanie. I have read the two posts and I have copies that are automatically sent to my e-mail address that I can save for myself. I do not want this to stop anyone from expressing an opinion. I will read them all and take them into consideration. My decision to delete them is solely based on the fact that if somehow, sometime, one of her family members were to ever read my blog(s), I want this to be a safe and friendly place for them, somewhere they can be protected from all the negativity. Again, thank you and please don't hesitate to leave your thoughts. Truly.

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  17. Dear Virginia,
    I am a family member of Steph and your words and thoughts were very kind and compassionate. Our family suffered such a tremendous loss that even now it is hard to think or talk about. This time of year is always tough and brings such sadness to our family. Even now, years later we try to make sense out of what happened. Could it have been prevented? Why didn't I see the signs? What could I have done? We go over it and over it in our minds, time and time again but sadly we have the same outcome. I do want to address one comment that was made by someone, it wasn't our families intention to brush what happened under the rug or ignore it. What happened was such a huge, shocking and tragic loss for all of us. It took many many months for anyone to even look at pictures or mention names. To this day, many of us don't even acknowledge Easter. What I can say is that we love Steph, Nolan and Josie with all of our hears and hope that all 3 of them are at peace and together. Thank you again for your kind words and openness.

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    1. I truly thank you for your words and reaching out. I still think of Steph and your family often. Forever in my heart. Much Love, Ginny.

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  18. Thank you, family member, for reaching out today. Your words are sincere, raw, and truthful. That in itself is proof that you have not swept this tragedy under the rug. It is impossible to do so. It is also deeply personal, and your story to tell.
    My heart aches for the loss to your family. I hope you find from this blog some comfort in knowing how very many people really understand, or try mightily to understand without judgment but with open and heavy hearts.
    With compassion and healing to you all...

    And to my daughter, the author: your voice reaches many as your spirit reaches out this the family. I love you deeply and my heart swells with pride at your enormous heart and beautiful words.

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