The quiet in Newtown

[Moderator1]

Might belong on journalism board, I don't know. What I do know is Eli Saslow is ridiculously good

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/after-newtown-shooting-mourning-parents-enter-into-the-lonely-quiet/2013/06/08/0235a882-cd32-11e2-9f1a-1a7cdee20287_story.html?hpid=z1

 

[BenPoquette]

It was a well-written piece.

 

[JR]

Read this about three times over the weekend. Heard about if first on Twitter

It's an extraordinary piece of writing and reporting.

The breakfast scene is excruciatingly gut wrenching.

 

[poindexter]

The day-to-day experience of this poor family trying to survive after their son was killed was thoroughly sobering and depressing.
Reading how the political sausage is made when the dad goes to Delaware is pretty damn depressing as well.

 

[Iron_chet]

I am resisting reading it as I do not need to have the horror and the thought if it was my kids enter into my over active imagination.

 

[Lugnuts]

I am resisting reading it as I do not need to have the horror and the thought if it was my kids enter into my over active imagination.

Normally I feel that way, too, but I forced myself to read it. I think parents need a major gut check now and again, and this was certainly that.

After an hour of on-and-off sobbing, I felt new resolve on so many different levels.

 

[Bob Cook]

The day-to-day experience of this poor family trying to survive after their son was killed was thoroughly sobering and depressing.
Reading how the political sausage is made when the dad goes to Delaware is pretty damn depressing as well.

Especially as it becomes clearer to the parents, as they see politicians do nothing and even actively try to avoid meeting them, that their son truly died in vain.

 

[MileHigh]

One of the most powerful stories I've read in a long time.

 

[old_tony]

The day-to-day experience of this poor family trying to survive after their son was killed was thoroughly sobering and depressing.
Reading how the political sausage is made when the dad goes to Delaware is pretty damn depressing as well.

Especially as it becomes clearer to the parents, as they see politicians do nothing and even actively try to avoid meeting them, that their son truly died in vain.

"Died in vain"? Really? The purpose of his death was to institute gun control?

This is an incredibly sad story. On top of 20 innocent children and six innocent adults being killed, the lives of those left behind are forever changed. The family in that story seems to be on such an unhealthy path that things are going to get worse and worse for them. Six months later, and neither the mom or dad have returned to work. Whatever grief counseling they're getting is not working.

 

[Bob Cook]

The day-to-day experience of this poor family trying to survive after their son was killed was thoroughly sobering and depressing.
Reading how the political sausage is made when the dad goes to Delaware is pretty damn depressing as well.

Especially as it becomes clearer to the parents, as they see politicians do nothing and even actively try to avoid meeting them, that their son truly died in vain.

"Died in vain"? Really? The purpose of his death was to institute gun control?

This is an incredibly sad story. On top of 20 innocent children and six innocent adults being killed, the lives of those left behind are forever changed. The family in that story seems to be on such an unhealthy path that things are going to get worse and worse for them. Six months later, and neither the mom or dad have returned to work. Whatever grief counseling they're getting is not working.

I'm not saying the purpose of his death was to institute gun control, and I didn't mean it as something solely political. I was referring to how, clearly, the parents were hoping that some shred of good could come out of it, somehow. And it's clear that nothing will, and perhaps it's too much for anyone to ask that there is some silver lining to something so horrible.

Even if somehow the family found some silver lining, I still don't know that there would be enough grief counseling in the world to get you over this. One thing the story powerfully tells is how there is no way to hide from what happened. Other kids in the school get to celebrate birthdays in public.

 

[MileHigh]

Eli Saslow talks about reporting and writing the story.

http://www.niemanstoryboard.org/2013/06/10/whys-this-so-good-no-78-eli-saslow-and-after-newtown/

 

[Rusty Shackleford]

Fantastic story. Really brings home the completeness of the tragedy. What I mean is, it goes beyond 26 killed to their families and friends and the lives those people will live now. Outstanding writing and reporting.

 

[dog eat dog world]

The day-to-day experience of this poor family trying to survive after their son was killed was thoroughly sobering and depressing.
Reading how the political sausage is made when the dad goes to Delaware is pretty damn depressing as well.

Especially as it becomes clearer to the parents, as they see politicians do nothing and even actively try to avoid meeting them, that their son truly died in vain.

"Died in vain"? Really? The purpose of his death was to institute gun control?

This is an incredibly sad story. On top of 20 innocent children and six innocent adults being killed, the lives of those left behind are forever changed. The family in that story seems to be on such an unhealthy path that things are going to get worse and worse for them. Six months later, and neither the mom or dad have returned to work. Whatever grief counseling they're getting is not working.

On such a sensitive subject, I read through the comments after reading the article and I was thinking this same thing. The hell that is their day to day existence hasn't gotten better, and I can only imagine what the holidays will be like.
We had a couple at our church that lost their child suddenly and inexplicably, through a rare virus that struck quickly and ended quickly. And within a year, another who lost her baby to SIDS. The former through her family came up with a car race to honor her memory; the other a program that helps kids to relish special moments. At some point, they found a way to bless that memory and help heal their wounds. I wouldn't trust government to heal much of anything and that's probably the worst thing for them to hang on to. These people, bless their ravaged souls, need something positive to absorb.
All the firsts in a year are tough. I hope they find solace in a second time around.

 

[Alma]

Eli Saslow talks about reporting and writing the story.

http://www.niemanstoryboard.org/2013/06/10/whys-this-so-good-no-78-eli-saslow-and-after-newtown/

That's helpful to read.

It's a tight, compelling read. You know, I'll say it wasn't that emotional to me. Saslow controls the scene too much for me to feel the emotions; the details seem so chosen for impact, quotes selected and shaped more for confirmation and momentum than characterization.

The best scene, to me, is the brief mother/daughter confrontation. It seems like the most authentic conversation in the story, the least filtered through what the writer deemed important.

This may read like a criticism, and, of a kind, it is, but not particularly to me. I'd argue it's a strength, a command of the message that projects emotion and intended moods. Really good writers, to borrow a line from the perfectly awful Days of Thunder, pick a line and drive through the proverbial wreck on the track. Saslow consistently does that very well.

 

[Lugnuts]

I started sobbing when the neighbor came over and started telling the story about the little girl. The exact same moment the mother couldn't take it anymore, I couldn't take it anymore.

 

[MileHigh]

I started sobbing when the neighbor came over and started telling the story about the little girl. The exact same moment the mother couldn't take it anymore, I couldn't take it anymore.

Same. That was tough.

 

[H.L. Mencken]

This should win a Pulitzer. If it doesn't, **** the committee.

 

[JackReacher]

Everything Saslow does is excellent. This included. It didn't have the same effect on me as it did others, but I'm chalking that up to me not being a parent. I can't imagine having to report and write about that. Ugh.

 

[deskslave]

The family in that story seems to be on such an unhealthy path that things are going to get worse and worse for them. Six months later, and neither the mom or dad have returned to work. Whatever grief counseling they're getting is not working.

What a truly awful thing to say. How on earth you can make that judgment based on the fact that they haven't gone back to work is completely beyond me.

 

[Baron Scicluna]

Incredible story, and it also made me think of that old athlete cliche, "What happens when the cheering stops?"

Only in this case, what happens when everyone else moves on, and Newtown fades from memory? Those families still have to live with their pain, forever.