Dear Editor,

I was really taken back and upset to find that you had put the murder and autopsy of my daughter Lacey in the Remember When section of your paper. I do realize that you can print what you want, but I do think that you can use better discretion and be considerate of those who have lost children or loved ones. Yes, I do know that deaths are listed in your paper when they happen, but to list it again after many years is unnecessary. I have talked with other parents in the past when you listed the death of their children and they told me, through their tears, how hard it was to be reading along and see it again after many years had passed. I do not know if you have any children or not, but let me tell you something. A parent can imagine what it might be like to lose a child, but what they imagine it is like is not even close to what they can imagine. Your whole world comes tumbling down. When you get the call it absolutely knocks you off your feet and it is very hard to get up and get going again. At first it will hit you with a wave of emotion like you have never experienced before. Your body may go limp and your legs will not support you. It will reduce a strong man to a whimpering child. You will be confused and dazed, you will become unbalanced and at times lose your sense of being and you will be physically sick. Birthdays and holidays are always the hardest times of the year. You try to fill the sadness with good memories, but the tears still come. If you must put anything in, maybe you should put “ On This Day In Memory Of “ and let it go at that without all the details. Reading that again after 12 years really upset me and was not something I wanted to read again.

No parent who has lost a child needs to be reminded of this in the paper. I wake up thinking about it every morning and throughout the day and I go to bed thinking about it every night. I and other parents who have lost a child do not need a reminder in the paper. We live with it or shall I say try to live with it every day. Answer this question. Being the editor and Lacey was your child or the child of one of the employees of the paper, would you of printed this again? Remember When should be about good things that happened in this small community, not sad or tragic.

Terry Neill

Blanco, Texas