Today’s post isn’t about pretty things and the best of, it’s about raw pain, hatred for unimaginable violence and the admiration for a hurting family.  If you were living in MN nearly 27 years ago, you remember that October night as a loss of innocence.  It was the night that three young boys ages 11, 11 and 10 were out for a bike ride on a country road and a stranger approached them and took young Jacob Wetterling and let the other two boys go. This didn’t happen in a big city, it happened in a small town which at the time had a population of around 4,000.  Everyone knew each other, as you typically do in small towns. Our state pulled together like a small community. Our hearts ached that night and the many days and nights that followed. We were glued to the TV hoping and praying for news of a miracle that the monster that did this would be found and Jacob would come home safely.  I even recall at the time the description of the vehicle in which the man drove was all over the news and when you got in your own car to run an errand or drive to work, you were always on the lookout for that certain car.

I was a new mother myself at the time of the abduction.  My first born son was only 9 months old and as a new mother myself, I couldn’t fathom Patty Wetterling’s pain of not knowing what happened to her son or where he was. It was truly incomprehensible. But, I also remember the sadness so many of us felt about how the world had changed and our own children would never be allowed to go out and play for hours without knowing exactly where they were, as I once did as a kid. There were times when we would go outside in the morning and not return for several hours later and our parents never worried about strange men and abductions. Sadly, the children of today and the future may never know those free-spirited times.

Patty and the Wetterling family have worked tirelessly to bring forth new laws and legislation regarding child predators and missing children, all in the name of their son, Jacob. They also started the Jacob Wetterling Resource Center, an advocacy group for children’s safety. She is such an amazing woman.

Sadly, this story doesn’t end the way we always wanted it to. Last week, nearly 27 years later, the Wetterling family finally got answers. I hate to say “closure” as when something like this happens to a family, I can’t imagine that there ever is any true closure. The man who abducted Jacob that beautiful fall night admitted to killing him and took authorities to the body. Then today I clicked on Facebook to see all the proud, smiling faces of children returning to school.  It was supposed to be a happy day.  But when I clicked on Facebook the news just came on with a live broadcast of this monster of a man in court. Today in court, the family learned the gruesome details of that fateful night. It brought tears to my eyes once again. I literally felt sickened after hearing what this vile man did. But, through it all Patty has remained strong and positive, something we all could learn from this incredibly giving family.  Thank you for letting me step away from the norm today. I leave you with the thoughtful and powerful words from Patty Wetterling shown above.