wow... so goddamn sad

advres · 08-03-2008, 03:52 PM

This is a long read but I think it is worth it.

The Girl in the Window

**dbp** · 08-03-2008, 04:35 PM

I saw that on Fark today.
Great read.
Heart wrenching, infuriating, and touching.
Loved the part about her new brother.

/I've got something in my eye

advres · 08-03-2008, 04:48 PM

yeah, that's were I saw it too. I couldn't NOT share it with others.

**Nathan Explosion** · 08-03-2008, 04:53 PM

Absolutely incredible, both good and bad. The best parts of us and the worst running right into each other. Her entire adoptive family are incredible people.

**gatorboy** · 08-03-2008, 04:55 PM

Sorry, I couldn't finish it.

**Core Shot** · 08-03-2008, 05:13 PM

"I've been in rooms with bodies rotting there for a week and it never stunk that bad," Holste said later. "There's just no way to describe it. Urine and feces — dog, cat and human excrement — smeared on the walls, mashed into the carpet. Everything dank and rotting."

Tattered curtains, yellow with cigarette smoke, dangling from bent metal rods. Cardboard and old comforters stuffed into broken, grimy windows. Trash blanketing the stained couch, the sticky counters.

The floor, walls, even the ceiling seemed to sway beneath legions of scuttling roaches.

"It sounded like you were walking on eggshells. You couldn't take a step without crunching German cockroaches," the detective said. "They were in the lights, in the furniture. Even inside the freezer. The freezer!"

Could be bunch of Maggots in a house like that.

I wonder if that girl will be able to spell her name at the age of 14?

**Nathan Explosion** · 08-03-2008, 05:15 PM

Originally Posted by Core Shot

I wonder if that girl will be able to spell her name at the age of 14?

Considering how far she's come in such a short time, I could see that being a decent chance. We need more parents like her adoptive family.

**jibij** · 08-03-2008, 05:30 PM

The best and worst of humanity.

**_Aaron_** · 08-03-2008, 09:09 PM

damn....

**P_McPoser** · 08-03-2008, 10:01 PM

Man, I totally just got a bunch of dust in my eye...

**Rasputin** · 08-04-2008, 03:10 AM

Certainly a worthwhile read. It is perplexing to hear that such circumstances are existent in our "civilization", but it illustrates the importance of loving kindness as the source of the health of humans.

Personally, I don't judge the mother, she obviously lacked what was needful to be anything more than an abysmal mother to her daughter, but often, people with limited natural talent, find themselves overwhelmed by the weight of the the choices they have made. It seems that she was delivered, to some extent, even as her daughter was.

Thanks to advres for posting it, and also to whoever is behind the Specialpowder alias, because that information is far more important than the latest count of soldiers who have died, in a conflict that continues to multiply the tragedies which actual humans (from all sides) are living through right now.

**Anxious Mo-Fo** · 08-04-2008, 05:40 AM

Did BeanDip hijack this article for her blog?

**zion zig zag** · 08-04-2008, 08:52 AM

A couple of weeks ago I had to call DSS three separate times in one day for shitty/abusive conditions for kids.

The one that bothered me most was a 10 by 10 bedroom with 5 kids in it ranging in age from about a year to about 12. The whole room was full of old food, and diapers. The younger kids were crying and the older two were just oblivious and watching TV with a blank stare. The kicker was that the room had a glass storm door on it that was locked from the outside like they were some kind of animals in a cage. The parents were happily lounging in the living room like nothing was wrong.

**Trackhead** · 08-04-2008, 09:11 AM

Originally Posted by flykdog

The kicker was that the room had a glass storm door on it that was locked from the outside like they were some kind of animals in a cage. The parents were happily lounging in the living room like nothing was wrong.

Two pulls of the trigger would have solved that problem.

**The AD** · 08-04-2008, 09:34 AM

Originally Posted by Rasputin

Personally, I don't judge the mother, she obviously lacked what was needful to be anything more than an abysmal mother to her daughter, but often, people with limited natural talent, find themselves overwhelmed by the weight of the the choices they have made. It seems that she was delivered

Sorry, I think she deserves to be 'delivered' with a bullet in her head. This is inexcusable.

**watersnowdirt** · 08-04-2008, 10:20 AM

I read this story yesterday here and it has stayed on my mind ever since. I've found myself thinking about it constantly.

I had never thought about the difference between "abuse" and "neglect", and the ramifications of the latter are just astounding to me.

The fact that this girl will likely never be able to recover basic skills as a result of extreme neglect is so incredibly heartbreaking.

I don't want this to be taken in the wrong way - it's just an observation - but I was realizing that my dog - Sophie - was able to connect to me in a way that Dani is not able to connect to other people. Sophie can give and receive love, can understand basic commands, and can show happiness and sadness. To think that when they first adopted her, Dani was not able to do any of that - again, it got me thinking so much about what socialization does for us as human beings.

Thanks for posting the story.

**soylent green** · 08-04-2008, 10:27 AM

I've had this experience as a social worker before. The smells are outrageous. This sounds a lot worse than anything I ever investigated in that job though. Glad they got caught.

**Kied** · 08-04-2008, 11:04 AM

I don't even know what to say. Fucking horrendous. Glad she's been given another chance.

**P_McPoser** · 08-04-2008, 11:10 AM

Originally Posted by watersnowdirt

I read this story yesterday here and it has stayed on my mind ever since. I've found myself thinking about it constantly.

I had never thought about the difference between "abuse" and "neglect", and the ramifications of the latter are just astounding to me.

The fact that this girl will likely never be able to recover basic skills as a result of extreme neglect is so incredibly heartbreaking.

I don't want this to be taken in the wrong way - it's just an observation - but I was realizing that my dog - Sophie - was able to connect to me in a way that Dani is not able to connect to other people. Sophie can give and receive love, can understand basic commands, and can show happiness and sadness. To think that when they first adopted her, Dani was not able to do any of that - again, it got me thinking so much about what socialization does for us as human beings.

Thanks for posting the story.

WSD I was thinking the same thing. My dog jumped up onto the couch and curled up on my leg while I was reading the story.

It's also interesting to hear all the comments calling for the mother's death. Interesting how there doesn't seem to be that call when the subject is abortion...

**bklyn** · 08-04-2008, 11:16 AM

@ flykdog & solyent

How do you not curse out the adults? I find this the hardest part of volunteering with children in bad situations - the urge to give the families a piece of my mind or a fist in the gut.

13 · 08-04-2008, 11:20 AM

Originally Posted by bklyn

@ flykdog & solyent

How do you not curse out the adults? I find this the hardest part of volunteering with children in bad situations - the urge to give the families a piece of my mind or a fist in the gut.

amen.

**The AD** · 08-04-2008, 11:23 AM

Originally Posted by P_McPoser

It's also interesting to hear all the comments calling for the mother's death. Interesting how there doesn't seem to be that call when the subject is abortion...

I'm not sure I understand your point. Calling for a mother's death if she aborts a baby?

advres · 08-04-2008, 11:28 AM

Originally Posted by bklyn

How do you not curse out the adults? I find this the hardest part of volunteering with children in bad situations - the urge to give the families a piece of my mind or a fist in the gut.

My thoughts too!

From the article...

The mother's statement was: 'I'm doing the best I can,' " the detective said. "I told her, 'The best you can sucks!'

That is awesome right there!

**P_McPoser** · 08-04-2008, 11:36 AM

Originally Posted by The AD

I'm not sure I understand your point. Calling for a mother's death if she aborts a baby?

Yes, that was my intented trolling statement.

**zion zig zag** · 08-04-2008, 12:49 PM

Originally Posted by bklyn

@ flykdog & solyent

How do you not curse out the adults? I find this the hardest part of volunteering with children in bad situations - the urge to give the families a piece of my mind or a fist in the gut.

I usually let the captain handle it, and he's not always cordial about it. In this situation the medical guys were doing their thing and something didn't seem quite right to me, so I grabbed the engineer and started looking around (I could tell Dad was uncomfortable at this). I saw the room and the first thing out of my mouth was "what the fuck is this?'".

And TH, if I only had that license to kill. But judging by the look on the 12 yo face, he'll take care of it in a few years.