Sadness…Anger…

There has been only a few drawbacks to this adventure I am on. But a big one is – not physically being in Knoxville – I miss events and news.

My friends and family are really good at keeping me updated, but of course some things fall through the cracks…

A woman I loved dearly, Lucy Frye, passed away. This was an expected death after a long life and health issues but still I found out by chance in a casual conversation with a reference to her funeral. Hard.

Then Marley lost her first tooth. The beginning of lots of first with her I knew I’d miss. But still we can Skype about it and I get to see it as it is happening due to such amazing advances in technology. Cool.

But with the same technologies, social media, I found out about a devastating event in a life of someone I happen to know and care about.

The ravage beating and murder of Henry Granju. I got up on Tuesday to check my emails and Facebook notices before heading to my next couch-surfing host in Costa Mesa, CA to see the “RIP to Henry” on Facebook. A couple of years ago when I was employed at St John’s Cathedral, I knew Henry as a fun and smart member of the youth group. I immediately called  a few  people I know in Knoxville and was told that Katie had been blogging about Henry since the beginning of his hospitalization. I decided that was the best way to get a full idea of what had happened.

Katie’s Blog, http://mamapundit.com, has the full details of the past several weeks in Katie’s (Henry’s mom) words. I have read it several times and I have not yet been able to process it all in my mind.

HORRID. SCARY. TRAGIC. UNBELIEVABLE.

This coming on the tail end of the total injustice in the Christian/Newsom trials has just left me wondering how we, as Americans, have let our justice system deteriorate to this extent. Where the police department tells the mother of the victim that it’s not sure there is a victim so there isn’t really an investigation going on.

But once Henry actually dies –  not just suffers through pain for 30 some days while the family pray, love, help, wait – and Katie publicly blogs about the unwillingness of the Knoxville police department to investigate and follow-up on the many readily available leads are we seeing them acknowledge and investigate as they should have from the beginning. WHY???????????

We talk about and I agree that we need a complete overhaul of our health care system, but I believe that if we did a thorough and complete overhaul of our judicial system and stopped letting the criminals use the system and the victims pay for crimes against them we would have PLENTY of money for health care for everyone.

I have worked in and with the judicial system since 1994, as a mediator and a paralegal, and have seen many things in that arena that make me sad as an American. We are born of freedom. Freedom is NOT putting the victim on trial to make sure the perpetrator gets a fair trail and punishment! Or in this case charged!

I do not want to use this blog as my pedestal for reform. But I am sad that not only was I not aware of this ongoing tragedy from the beginning so I could pray and give my thoughts to the family and Henry, but also at the way it is being handled within the sheriff’s department.

God bless to the friends and family of Henry Granju and I so hope in my heart for justice for his family and peace and rest for him.