When I first heard of the death of Jett Travolta, the son of John Travolta and Kelly Preston this past week I felt an awful pain in my soul. I don't know them and in fact I have nothing whatsoever in common with them other than also being a parent. I went to his website to offer my condolences. Although they will likely never read it and it will not mean much to them, my heart truly hurt for the pain they are now experiencing.
There is absolutely, truly without a doubt NOTHING, and I mean NOTHING worse that could ever happen to any one of us than to lose a child. It is my greatest fear and I know that if it ever happened to me I would be destroyed beyond repair. This is from where my sympathy arises.
It is just the proof that it matters not how much money you have, whether you are a celebrity or not, dreadfully tragic things can happen to you.
I honestly have never purchased a tabloid in my 42 years on the planet and I NEVER will. I have also never bought in to the idea of putting celebrities up on a pedestal and worshipping them. They are simply people just like us, except they happen to have a job that involves entertaining our sorry asses. In my present ill state, I watch many, many movies and I appreciate the fact that I can be entertained by actors and escape into a different world for a couple of hours.
I for one think they deserve to have a life with privacy and if I had the power, the paparazzi would be outlawed. It is criminal the way they stalk actors. I personally do not understand how they get away with what they do, as they are nothing more than stalkers and most definitely NOT journalists. I would go absolutely crazy if I had them in my face ever step I took and I suspect that for virtually everyone on the planet, if your life was viewed under a microscope each and every day; trust me, you would not enjoy the outcome.
Presently on the internet there are numerous comments on articles, blogs etc. slamming Jett's parents for being scientologists, outright blaming them for his death, so much so that I almost felt sick to my stomach. I am not a scientologist, however, what about: "thou shall not judge" or "Do unto others" mentality? Those poor people have had their hearts ripped wide open and are experiencing the worst pain imaginable, something that I would not wish on my worst enemy. As a person that believes people are inherently good, I am rather astonished at the response of some. How cruel can people be? Well, it even gets worse.
I even saw one blog that said, "So what? This is not news big deal, just because he died. There are millions of kids that die and no one cares about that." Well, to this dreadfully mean individual I do agree with you on one account. Yes, there are many children that die, and each and every one is a tragedy. This is news because they are in the public eye and I would assume that at this point they likely wish that they were not. This will be the most difficult trial they will ever face and they will be forever changed. My heart breaks for anyone that loses a child, whether they are a friend, stranger or celebrity.
Many people are blaming Scientology so much so that Jett's family felt it necessary to release a statement indicating that everything medical and otherwise had been done for him. WHY SHOULD THEY HAVE TO DO THAT? This should be their own private time to grieve for the loss of their son, not to have to worry about what people think. All of you individuals that are taking time out of your day to post cruel comments I suspect that you have no children, or if you do, someone should question you about what type of care you provide your child as I know, any normal parent would feel sympathy for what this poor family is going through. I know I do. For goodness sake, leave these poor people alone in their grief and most importantly, IF YOU DON'T HAVE ANYTHING NICE TO SAY, DON'T SAY ANYTHING AT ALL.
So to John, Kelly & Ella-I am no one special and you do not know me but my hope for you is that you are shielded from the dreadful comments, comforted by the heartfelt ones and that you will find a way to cope with such a terrible loss. Truly my heart breaks for you all. I wish peace for you and you will remain in my thoughts.
There is absolutely, truly without a doubt NOTHING, and I mean NOTHING worse that could ever happen to any one of us than to lose a child. It is my greatest fear and I know that if it ever happened to me I would be destroyed beyond repair. This is from where my sympathy arises.
It is just the proof that it matters not how much money you have, whether you are a celebrity or not, dreadfully tragic things can happen to you.
I honestly have never purchased a tabloid in my 42 years on the planet and I NEVER will. I have also never bought in to the idea of putting celebrities up on a pedestal and worshipping them. They are simply people just like us, except they happen to have a job that involves entertaining our sorry asses. In my present ill state, I watch many, many movies and I appreciate the fact that I can be entertained by actors and escape into a different world for a couple of hours.
I for one think they deserve to have a life with privacy and if I had the power, the paparazzi would be outlawed. It is criminal the way they stalk actors. I personally do not understand how they get away with what they do, as they are nothing more than stalkers and most definitely NOT journalists. I would go absolutely crazy if I had them in my face ever step I took and I suspect that for virtually everyone on the planet, if your life was viewed under a microscope each and every day; trust me, you would not enjoy the outcome.
Presently on the internet there are numerous comments on articles, blogs etc. slamming Jett's parents for being scientologists, outright blaming them for his death, so much so that I almost felt sick to my stomach. I am not a scientologist, however, what about: "thou shall not judge" or "Do unto others" mentality? Those poor people have had their hearts ripped wide open and are experiencing the worst pain imaginable, something that I would not wish on my worst enemy. As a person that believes people are inherently good, I am rather astonished at the response of some. How cruel can people be? Well, it even gets worse.
I even saw one blog that said, "So what? This is not news big deal, just because he died. There are millions of kids that die and no one cares about that." Well, to this dreadfully mean individual I do agree with you on one account. Yes, there are many children that die, and each and every one is a tragedy. This is news because they are in the public eye and I would assume that at this point they likely wish that they were not. This will be the most difficult trial they will ever face and they will be forever changed. My heart breaks for anyone that loses a child, whether they are a friend, stranger or celebrity.
Many people are blaming Scientology so much so that Jett's family felt it necessary to release a statement indicating that everything medical and otherwise had been done for him. WHY SHOULD THEY HAVE TO DO THAT? This should be their own private time to grieve for the loss of their son, not to have to worry about what people think. All of you individuals that are taking time out of your day to post cruel comments I suspect that you have no children, or if you do, someone should question you about what type of care you provide your child as I know, any normal parent would feel sympathy for what this poor family is going through. I know I do. For goodness sake, leave these poor people alone in their grief and most importantly, IF YOU DON'T HAVE ANYTHING NICE TO SAY, DON'T SAY ANYTHING AT ALL.
So to John, Kelly & Ella-I am no one special and you do not know me but my hope for you is that you are shielded from the dreadful comments, comforted by the heartfelt ones and that you will find a way to cope with such a terrible loss. Truly my heart breaks for you all. I wish peace for you and you will remain in my thoughts.
4 comments:
Jeannette,
I know that this was written so many months ago, but I do not think it is too late to offer my thanks for writing such a wonderful comment on behalf of this family.
I know that we have just met in this virtual world of ours, so you may not know that I also have a son who lives with the daily struggles that epilepsy poses. My son's first seizure occurred shortly before his 3rd birthday, and he is now 5.5 years old. Since that time, we've been through more medical tests than any parents should have to watch their children go through, we've been evaluated for brain surgery (with another evaluation on the horizon). I've watched my son be ostracized at school due to his difficulties, and how hard it is for him to develop friendships as he has had significant trouble with controlling his emotional reactions.
There are people out there that are too quick to offer their judgements on what I am doing "wrong" as a parent. That I should be doing more to "heal" or "fix" my son. There is no "fix" for him. My son has intractable epilepsy, which means that it does not respond well to medications. In fact, a trial run of one certain medication led to him having aggressive outbursts, regressing in learning skills and losing out on 2 months of school this year due to increased seizure activity. He still takes two medications which only somewhat control his seizures.
There are many times when I have thought about taking him off medications all together to see what happens, since the side effects can be just as devastating as the actual seizures and since he is having seizures anyway. As a parent, it's a decision that we must struggle with when it comes to finding what the "right treatment" for our child's illness is for them. It saddens me that our society today still blames parents for things that are so obviously beyond our control. As though we haven't tried everything within our power to bring help to not only our child, but also to the entire family. It's not only the child that lives with the epilepsy, but epilepsy lives with the family as well.
Thanks again for your wonderful words of support. While you may or may not get response from the Travoltas, your words are still heard by others and I'm sure your feelings are still felt all the same.
Melissa
Melissa-I am so sorry I did not see your comment before now. I am also so very sorry to hear of your son's health issues. As a parent of 3, I can not imagine. It must be so scary for you.
I have said it a million times: there is absolutely, positively NOTHING worse than watching your child suffer and even worse to lose them. I know without a doubt-it would be the end of me-I could not cope with that and truly I would rather have horrible things happen to me personally than to ever lose one of my children.
I can not imagine what you go through watching your poor child not only suffer with the seizures but to also have to deal with the cruelty and judgement of others. How dare they! My heart goes out to you sweetie-really it does. I have much empathy but will clearly admit, I do not know what it is like-I can only imagine and as a parent, imagining it is painful enough.
I do not know how you cope. You must have some pretty rough days. I hope that you do have support though from perhaps a wonderful, non-judgemental friend or family member. You and your son will remain in my thoughts and prayers!
No word of a lie but I pray and thank God EVERY single day for my healthy children-every day without fail.
Sadly this is still in the news due to the court case of those awful individuals that tried to get money out of John Travolta via extortion. How sick must you be to do that to someone that has just lost their child? That is the lowest of low.
I am still praying for the healing of John Travolta and his family. I will continue to also pray very hard for you my dear Melissa. Take care!
Love,
JeannetteX0
Yes Jeanette, you ARE special.
Marcia-Thank you so much for the comment. Such a sweet kind-hearted comment too!
As I said- I believe losing a child is as bad as it can get and when I hear about sick and/or dying children the 1st thing that crosses my mind is: "The poor parents." Of course I feel for the child too as I truly love children. It is just that "mother response."
It is heartbreaking and even when it comes to virtual strangers-my empathy is just as deep because I am a mother too. Just thinking about that sort of heartache makes me feel horrible inside.
Thank you again for stopping by to comment-I really appreciate it. Feel free to stop by any time
Jeannette:0)
P.S. I absolutely LOVE the name Marcia. It was one of the names I had chosen if I had a girl-and due to having 3 boys I never got to use your lovely name. It just sounds so pretty and feminine.
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