Stained

Another misdeed tucked under the rug. Another story about a leader misusing his power to abuse kids. Another stain that couldn't be cleaned, so instead of facing it and dealing with it, they covered it with furniture--dressers, bookcases, couches, something really heavy. Eventually though--as with everything--the furniture will move and the blemish will still be there, glaring back, waiting for acknowledgment, for someone to own it, to admit it and to be punished for making it.

That's what happened yesterday when the victims were validated, and Coach Sandusky was forced to face his crimes.

Unlike a stain, neither purchasing new carpet, nor employing the services of professional cleaners will do anything to clean the mess. Children who looked up to him as a role model were violated by the very person proposing to guide them. How can they ever look at the world through anything but distorted glass? How can they admire anyone else? How can they trust ever again?

I know nothing about the victims, but I do take a minimal amount of solace in the fact that we are built to regenerate. Like skin and bones, the scars remain, but the whole is capable of growing back stronger. The human spirit will once again be able to take new risks and see them play out justly, those individuals will eventually find a mentor who is honorable and wise, and in time, they will once again be able to trust those who reach out their hand and offer love.

These violations will have stained just a bit of their spirit, but now that the furniture has moved and the stain is visible, they can begin to heal. They can speak, they can deal, they can grow. It's just too bad we live in a world that put them in the position to have to.