A Parent’s Worst Nightmare, A Mother’s Fight

I follow a lot of blogs (93 in my Google Reader alone) as well as reading blogs through newspapers and trying to touch bases with everyone that reads and comments here. Still, I did not know of or follow Katie Granju, who blogs at MamaPundit until I read her heartbreaking story in the New York Times Motherlode column. Since then I have read her blog daily and thought of her often.

Katie probably has no idea who I am—nor should she—but I am following her call for bloggers to help share her family’s story and aid in her tenacious fight as she hopes that in publicizing the injustices her family are enduring in the wake of the drug overdose death of her teenage son, Henry Granju, justice may be, at the very least, pursued, and, ideally, served.

I am not going to go into all the details of the story here—the link at Henry’s name will take you to the posts she’s written as she shares the details of what has transpired over the last several months, surrounding her son’s death.

What I will do is tell you why I am so invested in the story of a mother and son I’ve never met, who lived thousands of miles away. Katie is a good mother who loved her son with all her heart. Her son was, by all accounts, a sweet kid who knew that he was loved. These things were not enough to save Henry from a descent into drug addiction or to save Katie from losing her eldest child. Where some people are able to comfort themselves with the idea that “this would never happen in my family,” I cannot do that. I really am more of a “there but for the grace of God go I” type thinker.

Shepherding your children from babyhood to adulthood is the most important job most of us have and there are so many ways it can go tragically, sorrowfully wrong. The teen years of my children have, for me, been largely filled with joy; but still, I worry. I know that with certain things I can do my best, but matters are beyond my control. If there is any parent who doesn’t have a pit in their stomach when the phone rings late at night or a siren wails when the kids aren’t home, I have yet to meet him or her.

Specific to Henry’s story, what makes his loss even more difficult to take is that, by dint of his addiction, he seems to have been deemed disposable by the authorities. The questionable circumstances, negligent actions, and assault that are all intertwined with his death have not been investigated, considered or pursued by law enforcement.

Katie Granju has spent months waiting for the wheels of justice to begin to grind. She is done waiting and is taking action to oil the gears that power those wheels. Nobody should be considered disposable. The pursuit of justice should not be reserved only for those that are considered “worthy.”

Katie’s fight is specifically for Henry, but I believe, as does she, her battle has repercussions for all parents, their children, and society. I hope you take the time to follow the links and learn about her struggle for answers and her need to show that even a “junkie” deserves fair treatment in our justice system.

I wish you luck Katie and I wish I had “met” you under better circumstances.

Comments

[kcinnova]

I've been following her story -- and the heartbreaking loss of Henry -- ever since I followed a link over from Suburban Correspondent's blog.
I personally know too many "good" families that have suffered through tragedy to ever think I am immune. Katie's loss is horrible enough without the arrogance of those who should be providing justice. My stomach twists just thinking about it.

[suburbancorrespondent]

Thanks for posting this, Jenn. I felt so overwhelmed by all those details she gave us, I lost sight of the forest for the trees. Essentially, she feels his death should be prosecuted as an assault, not as a drug overdose, correct?

And thanks for pointing out that even parents who do everything "right" can end up seeing things go terribly wrong with their children. Most people prefer not to believe that.

[Jenn @ Juggling Life]

I dont think thats exactly the case. I think she thinks:

The assault should be prosecuted even though it didnt directly cause his death Those who were negligent in not calling 911 earlier should be prosecuted
If they can be identified, those who provided him with the drugs (which seems as it might be the same as those above) should be prosecuted

[KEM]

I'm in shock that despite living a little over an hour from where Katie Granju and her family are fighting this battle in Knoxville, Tennessee, I had not heard ANYTHING about their story until just now - reading it via a link from a blogger in California. Clearly their story has not received the public attention that it needs.

I've only skimmed the story thus far, though I will be headed back to Katie's blog to read all of the 'parts' momentarily. I just couldn't get over the fact that it was so close to home and I did not know anything about it. I read 'Knox County' and thought 'Huh, we have one of those'.

[Busy Bee Suz]

This is one of my biggest fears; I know it can happen to anyone.
Going to check out her postings as well. Suz

[Magpie]

It's a heartbreaking story.

[Calamitysandra]

If I got the gist right, then yes, she wants the assault prosecuted, and she wants the people who gave him the drugs to be prosecuted, but what she wants most is to bring to light the activities of the two people who seem to be orchestrating a sex for drugs scheme and are pimping out addicted teenagers.

[Jenrantsraves]

What an awful, disturbing story! I hope she gets the justice that is deserved for her family.

[Brightside-Susan]

I became aware of this story early on when she first posted about it and recieved a lot of criticism about her parenting. I am so sorry that it has continued to be such a sad and difficult story for her. I agree that the police are not doing a professional job on the case and their claims tha the evidence supplied by Henry's phone records are not legitimate is ludicrous.

[JCK (Motherscribe)]

Jenn, thanks so much for taking the time to share this story. It sounds tragic and heartbreaking. The energy that you are sending her is going to be felt, especially if there are a lot of us sending compassion to them. What a tragedy - and yes, a parent's worst nightmare.

[Annie]

I read through the whole story last night and was haunted by it all day today. What a nightmare! I can't imagine what it must be like to lose a child ... but to have to endure what has followed is more than any family should have to go through. Even if the text messages can't be used as evidence, surely they give just cause to pursue the investigation further. I just don't get it!