Death of a Princess

I remember Ciera as a beautiful young girl with dark hair and dark eyes. Her family background had been a bit rough. At the time I met her she was seven years old, and her single mother had planned to marry a young friend of our family. From the very beginning of her life it seems, she had a dream--to grow up and meet Prince Charming, have children, and have a happy life. She frequently participated in beauty contests as a young girl with all the frills in dress, makeup, and behavior on the runway that is expected. Her dream ended last week when, at the age of twenty, her boyfriend broke down the bedroom door of the place they shared and shot her two times. She was nine months pregnant with a baby boy. The father then turned the gun on himself and committed suicide. It was another reminder to me that fairy tales rarely come true.

Once more I find myself conflicted about the freely available guns that we have access to in America. We all know that relationships can be volatile, and I have never been quite convinced that having guns for protection outweighs the possibility of gun violence within the home from arguments, from accidents related to cleaning, from children finding guns within the home, and so on. I think, of course, that we need to keep the conversation going regarding gun control issues.

Our family will likely never know the full story behind Ciera's death. We know that she argued a lot with the people who were close to her. We don't know if she felt she had really found her Prince Charming, or if she was just anxious to make her dream seem to come true. We don't know how her boyfriend felt about becoming a father while still unmarried. Unfortunately, we do know that murder-suicides are much more common than we would hope.

Tomorrow we will attend Ciera's funeral. Our thoughts and prayers will be with her extended family. We hear that she will be buried with her child in her arms. Will we ever be able to stop violence to women who somehow transgress a man's expectations?