Stories of Lost Children
Our Son Was Lost At Sea
by Donna Church, St. Petersburg, FL, U.S.A.
Last November, our son Peter began talking about an opportunity to help repair and transport a sailing yacht that was located in Antiqua. Despite the protests of his parents and siblings, he left in March. We had phone conversations and received a post card in May. During his last phone call, he vowed to be home in six weeks. He turned 22 in April. On the evening of June 2, 2005 we received a call from the Coast Guard in Puerto Rico, informing us that our son had been lost at sea as the result of an accident after attempting to repair a sail. Two fellow crew members state that he became entangled in the rigging, and in an attempt to free him, they lowered the mast, and it broke, falling into the water with our son entangled in ropes and wire. One of the men says he went into the water and tried to rescue Peter. Eventually they cut the mast away so it would not puncture the hull, and it sank in 12,000 feet of water, in the Caribbean Sea, with our son trapped in the rigging. Peter is desperately loved and missed. He was one of my favorite people, kindred spirit to myself and his sister Mary. A poet, musician, photographer, football addict, friend, brother, son. I no longer have a heart. It is somewhere under the pressure of 12,000 feet of salt water, two miles below the the blue sea paradise where cruise ships transport thier happy passengers. There was an article in the St. Petersburg Times on Sunday which quoted a mother who had also lost a child as the result of a sensless tragedy: "When you lose your child, the past is tainted. The present is unbearable. And the future you don't care about." (from Barbara Flatley who lost her daughter Erin) It has been over five months now since we last saw him and three months since we last talked. Sometimes he seems so close. We have many happy memories, and many sad reminders. Our only consolation is in God's mercy.
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