Sweet Angels and Scary Monsters

So most of you know by now that the sons of Susan Powell, who went missing from her home in 2009, were brutally murdered by their father.  Charlie and Braden were being dropped off by a social worker for a supervised visit with their father, one of several since November, when the visit turned into a nightmare.  In less than ten minutes, the house exploded into a fiery inferno at the hands of the monster that was their father.  He had locked the boys inside, luring them with the promise of a "big surprise".  He proceeded to take a hatchet to his own sons' heads and necks before rigging the place to blow up into a fireball and making sure his flesh and blood had no chance of escaping the flames and smoke.  No chance of telling the story of what their father had done to their mother the night of their "camping trip".  No chance of them putting him in prison for the murder of their mother with statements like "mommy was in the trunk".  All the while, their social worker tried frantically to get inside and then get help as the gasoline fumes, then flames overtook the air. 

Elizabeth Griffin Hall, the social worker assigned to their case, did everything she possibly could have done given the circumstances.  She tried to get the police involved, but the 911 operator seemed to be a bit high on himself and informed her that he didn't know when the police would be there because they had to respond to life threatening situations first.  This clown really needs to be dealt with.  I mean I have no idea why the smell of gas in the air and an unresponsive parent who won't let in a social worker for a supervised visit should be considered life threatening.  None at all.  He picked a bad time to be an ass on purpose.  Is it ever ok to speak to people that way when they're saying they have an emergency?  There's a way to say everything.

There are already a lot of Monday morning quarterbacks who think things could have been done differently and they'll swear that if they were in charge, they'd have made sure that this didn't happen.  There's no way to know that.  The only thing we know for sure is that their grandparents are now grieving for them the same as they've been grieving for their mother since she disappeared.  Susan Powell is still gone, the fact that she's probably dead hasn't changed, and what really happened to her probably died with her husband in that house.  Ms. Griffin Hall, though scarred, vows to continue on as a social worker forever changed by the fate of her two young charges.  A fate beyond her control, though it unfolded only steps away from her reach.  We can only take comfort in the hope that Susan and her sons are together again, wherever that may be.

God bless both families.  May those who are still on this earth that know what happened to Susan speak up and give the Cox family some sort of solace.  Allow them to bury their daughter with her children.  Charlie and Braden, finally you're safe.