Read "Room?" Finding the Amanda Berry case impossible to understand?

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Read "Room?" Finding the Amanda Berry case impossible to understand?
Tweet Topic Started: May 7 2013, 10:55 AM (427 Views)
Reynard Ridge	May 7 2013, 10:55 AM Post #1
Drivin' The Short Bus Posts: 2,934 Group: Members Member #237 Joined: January 8, 2007	If you have read "Room," or, as I did, listened to it as an audio book, it is a powerful work of fiction. The basic premise is that a teenager is kidnapped and held captive for years in a room in the backyard of a maniac. She has a child, and the entire story is told in the voice of the 5-year old boy. Incredibly hard thing to read, particularly for a parent. Turns out, people really do things like that; kidnap girls and hold them for a decade. I know it is not the first ever such case, it's just, so hard to understand, to believe, to comprehend.



FlashGordon	May 7 2013, 11:19 AM Post #2
You're BANNED! Posts: 6,855 Group: Members Member #2,251 Joined: December 3, 2007	Like the Jaycee Dugard story..... It is just shocking to me that it can happen. And in Jaycee's case, she was living in the backyard, in that weird little tent/shed city... and probation officers HAD BEEN IN THE HOUSE........ Even more surprising is how normal Jaycee now seems in interviews. Though I am sure she carries a lot of weight/demons/angst. I have unusually high anxiety about my kids being abducted. (though as a child, I had anxiety about myself being abducted, namely by aliens, lol) I am petrified of knowing that my kid could be taken, and would be out there somewhere, with someone else. I worry about this a lot with M, as when we go out in public she likes to wander or run ahead. Most people wouldn't realize she is with us, given the physical differences in our appearance. I worry someone would think "eh there's a random kid, with no parents" and snatch her, even with me walking behind her and watching. Edited by FlashGordon, May 7 2013, 11:46 AM.



Trialbyfire	May 7 2013, 11:43 AM Post #3
You're BANNED! Posts: 5,272 Group: Members Member #250 Joined: January 8, 2007	Just so horrifying. It's the sort of thing I want to protect my kids from knowing. I'm afraid they will see it in the news and it will terrify them. It terrifies me!



Indy	May 7 2013, 12:19 PM Post #4
You're BANNED! Posts: 8,083 Group: Admin Member #326 Joined: January 10, 2007	It's so scary, there are some really sick people out there. "Room" is one of my favorite books. Just so heartbreaking but wonderfully written - if only it was a pure work of fiction and real events like that didn't ever happen.



Fish Cheeks	May 7 2013, 12:47 PM Post #5
You're BANNED! Posts: 5,758 Group: Members Member #211 Joined: January 7, 2007	I thought Room was a great book and when I read the article this morning about those girls who just escaped, I thought immediately of the book. WTF is wrong with people!!!???



gunnar	May 7 2013, 05:37 PM Post #6
You're BANNED! Posts: 6,490 Group: Members Member #236 Joined: January 8, 2007	You never know! My heart goes out to all you Mothers!



Witchy	May 8 2013, 01:02 PM Post #7
You're BANNED! Posts: 3,289 Group: Members Member #547 Joined: January 22, 2007	It is terrifying to think that there are such monsters out there in the world.



gunnar	May 8 2013, 05:12 PM Post #8
You're BANNED! Posts: 6,490 Group: Members Member #236 Joined: January 8, 2007	My mind is blown by this tragedy! Just blown!



RHowell	May 8 2013, 07:13 PM Post #9
You're BANNED! Posts: 6,794 Group: Members Member #138 Joined: January 7, 2007	I just posted this on the wrong thread Right before this news broke, my hubby came home and told me the news that someone we know's son (he's maybe 20) just RELAPSED AGAIN...he had been in art school in Baltimore where he'd developed a drug problem (of what kind we weren't entirely certain) and has been to rehab twice now before this relapse, and in this relapse he was found in some unknown building in Baltimore with a whole bunch of needles sticking out of his body...he's back in treatment, but living at home in total lockdown. I haven't been able to get the horror of that having once been someone's innocent baby out of my head--i hold my daughter and just kept thinking how could something so precious turn out so troubled one day....and as I was completely struggling with that thought, this kidnapping news broke and then I became completely overwhelmed by that. As a new mother I just feel so completely overwhelmed at the moment. Overwhelmed that some innocent baby could one day grow up to be such a horrible person as a kidnapper (and in this case three horrible monsters!) and even if you are able to protect your kids from outsiders, then they can even destroy themselves. I'm just so completely overwhelmed this week.



Trialbyfire	May 8 2013, 08:22 PM Post #10
You're BANNED! Posts: 5,272 Group: Members Member #250 Joined: January 8, 2007	RHowell May 8 2013, 07:13 PM I'm just so completely overwhelmed this week. I just returned from a choir practice with all my kids' friends, and I sat with the parents and we talked about the Ohio events for quite a while. We all feel like you are feeling - and our kids are not babies. It is very difficult to deal with such horrible situations; and also to know how to talk to our kids about them, because with 11 and almost 15 year olds...I do need to talk to them about current events, and also their own safety. So scary, so depressing and tragic. But the parents reminded me that while there are such tragedies, and scary people in the world, they are the minority, not the majority. So we have to try to remember to keep all of this in context (in fact, one dad said CNN should use the "C" to stand for "context" and report things like "but 999,000 teenaged girls were NOT abducted" this year.) Tongue in cheek, but not altogether out of line. Our kids will be creating a blog this fall and we decided that after this tragedy, and the Boston bombings (and the potential for fear mongering in the press) that the blog will include a "Good Things" feature every week. Someone, somewhere, that has done something GOOD in the world, no matter how small. I know this is small comfort when facing such a horrible story in the news (and believe me, I may feel it more than you with older kids...because I can't shield them for much longer)...but there isn't much else we can do but believe that there are more good people in the world than people like these horrible men. Not easy. Edited by Trialbyfire, May 8 2013, 08:22 PM.



Reynard Ridge	May 16 2013, 01:05 AM Post #11
Drivin' The Short Bus Posts: 2,934 Group: Members Member #237 Joined: January 8, 2007	RHowell May 8 2013, 07:13 PM As a new mother I just feel so completely overwhelmed at the moment. Overwhelmed that some innocent baby could one day grow up to be such a horrible person as a kidnapper (and in this case three horrible monsters!) and even if you are able to protect your kids from outsiders, then they can even destroy themselves. I'm just so completely overwhelmed this week. Been there, feeling that. Exactly, exactly, exactly.



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