Today I am focused on the victims and not on Bobby Joe Long. I have questions about what he is doing, thinking and feeling but now my thoughts turn to the surviving victim, Lisa McVey Noland and the other victims of rape, those who were murdered, their families, Bobby’s family and all of those this case has personally touched.
How are those people coping and getting through each day? Bobby’s legal team files one appeal after the other in hopes of earning him a stay. I understand their fight. I am sure most offenders would be doing the exact same thing….
But how does this affect the other players in this tragedy? Families who are ready to have Bobby meet his maker so they may finally have the justice they desire. I do not believe in “closure”. At least not in the sense that once he is no longer breathing, people will magically feel better.
I think closure is probably more of the opportunity to no longer live in flux every day…. reliving the fight of ensuring Bobby pays for what was done to their loved ones. Some families choose not to seek the death penalty because it would mean appearing at every hearing for a decade or more to speak on behalf of the victims who are no longer able to speak for themselves. Some can not cope with that and I do not blame them.
That was not the case with the victims and their families in this case. These brave individuals pushed through to ensure Bobby paid his debt in the only way he could…. legally. For there is no way one can HONESTLY make up for the loss and destruction he left in his path.
Yes, today my thoughts are with the family of those who have suffered… including Bobby’s.