Seeing son’s killer go free opens old wounds for family

Dear Abby: My son was murdered four years ago by a supposed friend. Despite a 10-year sentence, the murderer was released from prison this month.

When I go onto his Facebook page, he has people congratulating and welcoming him home.

The murderer has not apologized or shown remorse. He was in home incarceration for six months before he was sentenced, and during that time, he impregnated his girlfriend instead of thinking about the devastation he’s caused my family. My son will never have a family.

Instead of announcing that he’s on his way home, I feel he should keep his mouth shut. I cannot believe that murderers and rapists receive congratulations once

they reenter society. Do they not recognize the devastation that has been caused to surviving family members of the victim? Or do they no longer care until something like this affects them and their families? — Hurt Again In

Kentucky

Dear Hurt Again: Please accept my sympathy for the tragic loss of your son. Nothing can take away the pain of losing a child, let alone at the hand of another person. The family and friends of the person who killed your son appear to have lost sight of the reason for his incarceration. But viewed from another perspective, they are happy to have their loved one back with them, which is why they are posting welcome messages.

A resource that might help you is the National Organization of Parents of Murdered Children Inc. You can find it by going to pomc.com. I hope you will give it a try. My heart goes out to you.

Dear Abby: Recently we needed to use the local ATM. When we drove by, it was being filled by an armored truck. My husband said I should get in line. I saw other people waiting in their cars, but I got out and formed a line.

After 20 minutes, the ATM guards finished. That’s when a woman approached me and said she had been waiting longer than me, albeit in her car, and I would have to go to the end of the line. I ignored her.

As I was making my withdrawal, I could hear the woman say that I had jumped the line and she called me an expletive, which two others repeated. Was I wrong to have stood my ground, or should I have moved to the

back? — Waiting In Texas

Dear Waiting: If you were the first person to stand at the ATM while others chose to wait in the comfort of their vehicles, you owed no one an apology. The person who was out of line (literally) was the woman who called you an expletive. You were right to ignore her.