Anniversaries can go either way. They are celebrations or they are observed. My wife and I celebrated our fiftieth wedding anniversary. We obviously do not celebrate the anniversary of the death of our son. We simply observe that day with the crushing sadness it brings with it. We celebrate the end of a world war but solemnly observe December 7, 1941 as the day it began.

Three weeks from today, just twenty one days, many will be observing the tragic day that #Stacey Burns was lost to this world. It will be a sad day of reminiscing about the special young woman who was killed on Mothers’ Day, 2009. Is there anyone who doesn’t feel that sadness compounded by the fact that whoever committed this unspeakable crime against Stacey and against all who loved her still has not even been indicted, let alone convicted?

I’ve never felt that the old cliche about “time healing all wounds” has much truth to it. I suppose if the wound is a superficial one, the passage of time could heal it. The wound of losing our son at such a young age over twenty years ago is not healed. It is scabbed over but sometines a simple memory can rip that scab off and cause the bleeding to start all over again.

I’m sure those who loved Stacey Burns would say that time has not healed their wounds. Certainly, as the observance of the day of her death approaches, the wounds will be opened once again. Wouldn’t it help, at least in some small way, if her killer was sitting in a jail cell, perhaps even on death row?  Hopefully, this day of observance will bring renewed outrage that this is not the case.

Duke