[missing]
My eight-year-old’s classmate Shyrin is officially missing in Phuket. So is her mother and her mother’s boyfriend. Look, here are their photos.
I don’t know what to say. But I have to say something.
Soon we’ll have to tell my daughter. Honey, one of your best friends is missing. Yes, she might be dead. No, we may never know. I don’t know what happens when you die. I’m waiting till her father’s here too, so for now I’m talking with other parents from my girl’s class while out of her earshot and keeping the television off.
There are 800 other Norwegians missing too, and many already found dead. Norway’s a small country. The prime minister said it may be the greatest disaster to hit Norwegians in peacetime. Ever. And obviously the Norwegians, though closer to my home, are just a handful compared to the tens of thousands of other victims.
Please: donate money to the Red Cross and their efforts to find people and help people, or to one of the other aid organisations. Here’s the Norwegian Red Cross, and you’ll easily find your local equivalent if you search.
December 29th, 2004 at 18:55
Oh, Jill. I’m so sorry. I’ve been thinking about S. all day, and even checked IM a couple of times to see if you were online and had word about her.
It’s so awful.
I’m pointing people to amazon.com, which makes it one-click-easy to donate to the International Red Cross. It feels like so little in the face of so much destruction, but every little bit helps. It’s heartening to see the donation amount climbing, as well.
When you talk to Aurora about what happened, tell her that Lane and Alex send their love and are so sorry to hear about the sad news.
December 29th, 2004 at 19:09
Oh, thanks Liz. I will tell her.
Her dad and I talked this afternoon and were thinking we’d tell her tomorrow when he’s back in town. But she’s really looking forward to a planned sleepover with some friends tomorrow, and then it’s New Years Eve, and telling her and either sending her to friends or cancelling her sleepover doesn’t seem like a great idea. Putting it off till Saturday is probably fine for her, so long as she doesn’t hear about it from other people (unlikely with these friends, and they’re good and will keep the tv off too) but I don’t know, I’m having a hard time keeping merry.
I don’t know what’s best. I guess I’ll ring more parents-of-classmates after she’s in bed and talk it over with them and Aurora’s dad.
It must be utter hell for their family. I so hope they’re OK. They might be.
December 29th, 2004 at 20:13
It is truly amazing the number of lives this tragedy has affected. My thoughts and prayers are with your daughter’s friend’s family and with everyone who has lost a loved one.
December 30th, 2004 at 01:32
Here in the north of Sweden there is an air of quiet shock in the supermarkets and near empty streets. Fifty people are missing from our province of Västerbotten. The usual pre-New Years Eve fireworks build up is not happening yet and tomorrow night will probably be not so merry.Today I packed clothes to be sent to Sri Lanka in a shop owned by a local Sri Lankan family. The three hours I was there people were constantly streaming into the business giving boxes and bags of clothes, medicines, shoes, soaps etc etc.
I am very sorry to hear about you daughter’s friend and her family.
December 30th, 2004 at 02:02
I have a son who is seven… It is so hard to explain to children that which we ourselves can not understand… my thoughts are with you, your family, your friends, and with so many others…
December 30th, 2004 at 11:53
[…] jill/txt
30/12/2004
[telling]
Shyrin’s photo was on the front page of the newspaper this morning. I showed my daughter, and e […]
December 30th, 2004 at 15:35
It’s so hard to explain things like this to children. I’m so sorry to hear that this has happened. It’s so enormous a tragedy that people just can’t take it in. I know the mood here in Sweden is very sombre as so many of them are still missing.