I cannot agree with you more, Dawn.

My new daughter-in-law had a 3 year old who drowned. My first thought was this story is going to rip her heart out. There are no words.

Oh Amy, I am so sorry to hear that. I hope this does not wound her tender heart too deeply.

As more details have become available since I first read this story this morning, we know the father tried to pull the child away from the gator. The mother also tried to assist. Try as I might, I know I cannot even imagine the fear, the sheer terror and the panic they were experiencing at that moment. To me, it is impossible to put myself in their shoes and to really understand everything they were going through, or everything they will go through for the rest of their lives. I mean, their son's chair at the table always will be empty. I hope that peace, healing and love envelope this family.

As a firefighting family, the absolute worst calls we go on are the drowning calls. It is just the most stressful kind of thing you can experience. The wait for their loved one's recovery is just excrutiating for the family, and in this incident with a gator involved, there is a chance they'll never find the child's remains. I hope they find some sort of remains that the family can carry home and bury. I think it is important to have a place to grieve, and for most people, the gravesite is that place.

It's absolutely horrific. I did hear a little while ago that they found his little body intact. Losing a child....burying a child.....is a grief no parent should ever have to bear. And yet, it happens. Poor people. Their lives won't ever be the same.

I heard his body was found intact, under about 6' of water, about 10' from shore. My son said the gators first drown their dinner, then hide it, then come back later to claim it. This is just so sad. My thoughts and prayers are with this family and all their friends. How in the world you begin to recover from something so tragic is beyond me.

Mary, It is true that it is a grief no parent should have to bear, as you know so well. It does happen, and I don't think it matters if the child lost is a newborn, or is 3 years old or 30 years old or 60 years old. For the parents, grief is grief. My grandmother outlived one of her sons by many years, and it is something she never wanted to experience and that she did not want for any of her children or grandchildren to experience.

Dawn

My thoughts and prayers are with the family, too. Not only have they lost a child, they are forever traumatized. Words just can't express.