Today I offer apologies to any who may have taken my last post as a message that people have stopped caring about Stacey Burns and her murder case. I know, and have been reminded of such, that many, many people in Stacey’s circle of family and friends care deeply and will continue to care. It was definitely not the intention of that post to indicate that people have stopped “giving a damn” to use the phraseology in the post.

Almost nine years have passed. This blog has often addressed the reality of situations where moving on becomes a necessity, but it doesn’t mean that folks don’t care or “give a damn” anymore. Another reality is simply that the grief and pain of loss and the anger at the perpetrator of this horrific crime cannot be sustained at the same level of intensity as it was nine years ago. That does not mean that it goes away.

I wrote this in The Week from Heaven and Hell, a memoir about the sudden and early death of our beloved son, Gary, ten years after he died. I believe it applies in Stacey’s case as well.

“Time had not made anything easier. The loss of such a worthwhile person in a world that cries out for compassionate people remains a question I hope and pray I’ll have answered some day. Until then, memories will have to suffice . . .”

So, Stacey Burns, your memory still burns in the hearts of so many who loved you. People do “give a damn” about what will happen to your murderer, who amazingly still is free to live in the world you left behind.

The frustration continues.

Duke