In this business, some images, some stories stay with you longer than others.
Our office is located right next door to the Media Elwyn R3 line. This morning I was walking back from the Wawa when an Express train zipped through, blaring its horn.
I have to admit I flinched. I stopped, turned, and watched it whiz by.
And all I could think about was the image of two teen girls hugging each other while standing on the tracks. I have not been able to shake that image all weekend.
That’s what police tell us happened last week in Norwood.
The deaths of Vanessa Dorwart, who would have turned 16 this week, and Gina Gentile, were ruled suicides by the county Medical Examiner’s office.
Trying to figure out why is another matter altogether.
In addition to covering this story all weekend, that is the question I’ve been agonizing over. Why? Why would these girls, and apparently several other kids in the Interboro School District, be so distraught that they would consider taking their own lives?
A lot has been said that several kids were upset – some say despondent – over the death of a friend a month ago. He was struck and killed as he rode his bike home from school.
Now this.
As I said, some stories stay with you longer than others. This one has haunted me all weekend.
I cannot even begin to imagine the loss suffered by these two families, nor the numb feeling of young people who now must deal with still another tragedy.
I talked to both of my children on the phone this weekend. They are both away at college.
But it was those kids in Norwood that I can’t get out of my mind.
And a single question.
Why?
Our office is located right next door to the Media Elwyn R3 line. This morning I was walking back from the Wawa when an Express train zipped through, blaring its horn.
I have to admit I flinched. I stopped, turned, and watched it whiz by.
And all I could think about was the image of two teen girls hugging each other while standing on the tracks. I have not been able to shake that image all weekend.
That’s what police tell us happened last week in Norwood.
The deaths of Vanessa Dorwart, who would have turned 16 this week, and Gina Gentile, were ruled suicides by the county Medical Examiner’s office.
Trying to figure out why is another matter altogether.
In addition to covering this story all weekend, that is the question I’ve been agonizing over. Why? Why would these girls, and apparently several other kids in the Interboro School District, be so distraught that they would consider taking their own lives?
A lot has been said that several kids were upset – some say despondent – over the death of a friend a month ago. He was struck and killed as he rode his bike home from school.
Now this.
As I said, some stories stay with you longer than others. This one has haunted me all weekend.
I cannot even begin to imagine the loss suffered by these two families, nor the numb feeling of young people who now must deal with still another tragedy.
I talked to both of my children on the phone this weekend. They are both away at college.
But it was those kids in Norwood that I can’t get out of my mind.
And a single question.
Why?
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