Somebody's Mother

Some things are beyond comprehension. Yesterday we got an email alert from the school system which was followed up by a brief article in the online paper (not sure what will show up in print).

Yesterday somebody's mother lit herself on fire and burned to death in one of our baseball fields. Her body burned for approximately 30 minutes before she was discovered.

Unless it turns out very differently, evidence supports the belief that she poured five gallons of gasoline over her body and then lit a match. Somebody stopped at the park to have lunch, thought a mannequin was on fire and called the police to put it out. The police arrived with a fire extinguisher and discovered the mannequin was a person and that was that. The fire department arrived but there was nothing to do.

This is the parking lot in which we taught my daughter to drive a stick shift. This is the town where my children go to school. This is the park closest to my neighborhood with a few nice fields and a great swimming hole. This is my home and that was my neighbor. In a town our size anyone living here is your neighbor. This is a thing which in itself is so horrible most of us will not touch more than the very edges of comprehension. This is a thing which perhaps ought to have been noticed and interrupted before it ever got to the purchase of gasoline. This is a thing of unbearable violence. This is a statement of internal brutality. This is a thing I can't even imagine.

Yesterday somebody's mother lit herself on fire and burned to death in one of our baseball fields.

I am so sad.