L’Observateur / January 6, 1999

The holiday season has been a grim, sad and heart-wrenching one for several families who sustained tragedy in the past several days. Avacationing Mississippi family lost two children in a rear-end collision on Interstate 10 during the weekend and a Boutte family lost a child in a fire Sunday.

The holiday season, while one for celebration and joy, can often be marred by senseless tragedies such as these. However, these tragedies do serveone purpose – to make us appreciate all the more the blessings we do still have. While the loss of a child is an enduring scar on the heart, the parentmay love children all the more, understanding that the pain can be turned to love and the hurt can be turned to devotion.

The Christmas season is also often marred by the suicides of depressed people, alone and feeling unloved and unwanted. Perhaps the pressures ofdebt, perhaps the pain of a remembered loss, prompt such action. Nomatter the circumstances, there is always another way, an alternative to taking one’s own life. There is always a path, however dim, away from theabyss.

As we enter this year, let us not dwell upon the past but use that past pain and disappointment as tools toward building a better tomorrow. Weall have something to contribute to improving life for all.

L’Observateur

Copyright © 1998, Wick Communications, Inc.

Internet services provided by NeoSoft.

Best viewed with 3.0 or higher