I started a post this am. It was a typical post for this blog. As I was writing, the story of Dr. Petit came on TV. The murderer of his family received the death penalty today. I started to tear. I stopped writing the blog post. I’ll finish it tomorrow.
Dr. Petit was a husband and father of two beautiful girls. One night two men entered his home, beat him with a baseball bat, raped his wife, his 16 year old daughter and his 11 year old daughter then tied them to their beds and set the house on fire. His daughters were alive and conscience when the house was set ablaze. They died of asphyxiation.
I have 3 daughters. To think of my daughters going through what his family did is crushing. I can’t get my arms around it. As I put myself in his shoes my stomach turns with pain. My heart tears. I can not see how I could have the grace Dr. Petit has. He has lost everything. He has to live with the vision of the horror his daughters and wife experienced for the rest of his life. He has to live with the pain of knowing he was unable to protect his family.
In the midst of all of this, Dr. Petit has shown tremendous grace. A grace rarely seen today. A grace that all of us could learn from. A grace I don’t know I could have.
My thoughts go out to him. I hope his strength is as impressive as the grace he has shown. It’s going to need to be for him to move on.
In a world where anger tends to reign supreme, Dr. Petit is giving us all something to emulate even in the most heinous of situations.
I’m going to hug my girls a little harder and a little longer from now on.
Related articles
- U.S. man sentenced to death for hideous home murders (calgaryherald.com)
- Man who robbed, killed Connecticut family sentenced to death (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
- Jurors Vote for Death in Conn. Triple-Murder Case (nytimes.com)
Well, I guess the concept of “love” is not too far off: You have to LOVE what you do. Then you can be enthusiastic and spread this enthusiasm to others and your team. And I guess, for leaders this is the fine difference: To stay with your example: Not loving the job of being a daddy with the possible power that comes with it, but the knowledge that you can change the whole world if you do your job right. For leaders it means loving what you do and not just your position or “power”.
🙂
I call this moment “Becoming Dad”. You become a father at conception (or birth). You become a parent at birth (or legal adoption). But you “become Dad” at moments like these.
Jon,
You’re right. It was a powerful and emotional moment.
//keenan
Excellent post Keenan. If you would allow me to add anything to your post it would be that at the most basic level we as people all really want the same things, regardless of gender/race/religion.
I agree Michael . . . well said
//keenan