I think if she was deceased, if my son told me it was a horrible accident after the parents told us she was missing, and the lawyer said to say nothing, I’d listen to the lawyer. As a mother of sons and daughters, I can mentally insert myself on either side. I’d do anything to protect my son, and I’d be ready to strangle them if it was my daughter.
My husband & I were talking about Gabby & Brian last night.
We have both a daughter & a son in their very early twenties.
And we agreed.
If we were Gabby’s parents, we would have been camped out in Brian’s family’s driveway, demanding & pleading for answers. My husband said he probably would have ended up arrested.
If we were BrIan’s parents, it’s muddier. I think, for me, it depends on what Brian told his parents & when.
There was a recent homicide case in northeast Florida in which a teenage boy brutally stabbed a teenage girl multiple times. If I’m remembering the details correctly, there’s a video of his mom washing the blood out of her son’s jeans in an attempt to get rid of the evidence.
That kind of situation, I know myself, & I’m absolutely turning my son in to the authorities.
But, if I’m BrIan’s mom, I really do think it depends on what he told me happened, how it happened, when he told me, & what the lawyer was advising us. And, depending on various things & perceptions, I could see myself believing my son in a couple of different scenarios.
I don’t think any of us really know what we’d do in a situation until we’re there in that situation While we may like to think we’d always act & react sensibly & logically & ethically, panic & fear can change everything. And I think things have a way of escalating & snowballing until we we’re so far in it’s hard to get out. One decision or choice leads to another choice & then another, & it gets messy really quickly… and maybe what you thought you’d never do you end up doing.
And never underestimate a parent’s love for their child & loyalty to that child. Or what panic & fear for your child will lead you to do.
For me, also, I really wonder, not only about the relationship between Brian & Gabby, but also about their relationship w/ their families & the relationship the families had w/ each other. What led Brian & Gabby to living w/ BrIan’s parents… were her parents okay w/ Gabby living w/ Brian’s family in Florida. Did the families have a good relationship w/ each other?
As we were discussing the situation last night, my husband pointed out that Brian has made things so much worse for his family. Maybe they have been willing participants in whatever all along, but, in choosing to involve his parents, Brian has irrevocably changed their lives for forever.
Gabby’s parents‘ lives too, of course, have tragically been changed forever, but in a completely different way than Brian’s family.
