Survivor doesn’t come close
I don’t cry easily.
But his retelling of this story made the tears come.
And this version elicited even more.
Tears of pity and admiration for the two-year-old heroine who survived on her own for nineteen days. Think about it. A child can die of hunger in less than half that time.
Tears of anger against a woman — I cannot say a mother — who could neglect her daughter so badly.
It gave me the shivers.
Watching Diana on the verge of her third birthday, loved, coddled and cared for, I find it unthinkable that a child younger than she was left to get by on her own, perhaps to leave this life without an inkling of why.
How did she know what to eat and what to stay away from?
How did she avoid falls, electrocution, cuts and God knows what else?
How did she deal with darkness, silence and being alone?
Those are questions no one will ever be able to answer, least of all the person who birthed her. Who doesn’t deserve her. Who should never be given the chance to leave her alone again.
That little girl is amazing.
Good luck, Breanna Janay Lee.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 8, 2003 at 9:29 pm under World. Both comments and pings are currently closed.