It's Not Safe

Meredith Emerson's murder and the possible other murders committed by this monster, Gary Michael Hilton, have really shaken me. I guess it's the idea that a serial killer was walking around within a few miles of my home, sometimes living in a park I've taken my children to, and mutilating and disposing of bodies in an area I used to go hiking in when I was the same age as the girl he murdered. It's really put me on edge and made me realize that I need to become more aware of my surroundings.

Last year there was a mugger or armed robber who targeted moms with small kids who would have to be put into car seats. He would wait in the parking lot until he saw the women putting the kids in the car and then approach them from behind, put a gun to the back of their heads and rob them, threatening to either kill them or their kids. Again, in the area where we live. He robbed one woman in the Whole Foods parking lot at the store I used to frequent once a week. Oh, yeah. He did this in broad daylight. He was eventually caught and arrested, but that made me start paying more attention to who was around when I had the kids with me.

But this just brings the issue of safety to the forefront of my mind again.

This article appeared in the AJC today and has some good tips. There is also information at the end of the article about free self-defense classes for women which are being sponsored by local radio station Q100.

The only bit of advice I have to add to the tips offered by the article is something a former cop told me once. He said never let an attacker get you in the car. If someone tries to carjack you, or push you into a car (yours or theirs) let them kill you on the spot before you get in the car. He said either way, you'll end up dead, but at least if they kill you on the spot your family will have you to bury and maybe someone will see or hear it happen.He said that very few people who get abducted are ever found at all. I always have that in my mind as horrible as it is. And I don't even know if it's true, but it sure sounds plausible.

I Can't Get My Head Around It

I want to be a good Catholic and leave all judgment up to God, to believe in my heart that the death penalty is wrong. But then, I hear a story like this one, about a girl just going about her life, doing something she loved, and not bothering anyone, who gets murdered by some low-life creep and it all goes out the window.

I don't know why this story hits so close to home with me. I guess it's a case of there but for the grace of God... I was never an avid hiker, but when I was this girl's age, I certainly went hiking alone, without even a dog, on portions of the Appalachian Trail and had fantasies of hiking the whole thing some day. I never gave a second thought to the safety of it. I never told anyone where I'd be either. I just went and got a room at a state park lodge and went hiking, just to be alone in nature and clear my head. It never occurred to me that some random creep could be out there on the trails, waiting to murder someone. And I'm sure it never occurred to Meredith either. Why would it? Why would any of us think there's another human out there wishing to do us harm? We shouldn't have to think that way.

Of course, I think our society might be more violent now than it was 12 or 13 years ago with less respect for life or other people generally. I often think we're in our decline as a culture and society, but then I start freaking out and can't let myself go there. I worry too much about what this world will be like when my children are grown. It's just too overwhelming sometimes.

I feel awful for Meredith's poor family. And I just can't get my head around why this creep would have to murder her. But in my heart I can't make myself find any reason why he should get to live – even in prison – when he so readily took this poor girl's life.