Bill Petit: His Heart-Wrenching Story And Why You Should Care

This is what happened. The New York Times can tell this story better than I can:

     "As a police officer approached the home of the Petit family in Cheshire, Conn., on the morning of July 23, 2007, two men ran from the scene as flames poured out of the house. They were quickly apprehended.

     When officers returned to the house they found Dr. William A. Petit Jr., 50; who had been severely beaten, and the bodies of his wife, Jennifer Hawke-Petit, 48; and their daughters, Hayley, 17, and Michaela, 11. The police said that the victims had been tied up in separate rooms, and that Ms. Hawke-Petit and one of the daughters were sexually assaulted before the house was set on fire."

     Yesterday, Petit appeared on Oprah, where he was interviewed about the details of this horrific incident, what he's been doing since then to cope, and what's been going through his head. I can't seem to find the episode on the internet but I'm sure somebody will put it up sooner or later if you want to see it.
     I watch stories like this all the time on Dateline and E! Investigates, but Petit's story really sticks with me. The fact that something so horrific happened to a dear friend of several family members of mine is something I never thought would happen. This all happened in such close proximity to my little house in Wethersfield, a town 99% of people don't even know exists. I always try to empathize with people but there's only so much I can fathom.
     Of course, Oprah just had to ask about God's place in this. What I'd like to know is why God would impose such an unimaginable event, which some could equate to a horror film, on an innocent, law-abiding doctor, husband, and father. However, it made me happy to hear that Petit uses spiritual guidance from God to give him a reason to live.
     It kind of makes me upset that Petit's story has gotten so much publicity, but the reality is that it satisfies every aspect of newsworthiness criteria, so it is what it is - people love to hear about this stuff and journalism is indeed a business. I'm way too sensitive to ever cover this type of thing or anything remotely crime-related for that matter.
     People my age complain about everything. It's like it's genetically programmed into us or something. I do it too, all the time. I'm currently complaining about how much people my age complain. This story was a huge slap in the face for me. Did your boyfriend just break up with you? Did someone spread a mean rumor about you? Did your mom tell you you're an asshole? Did you get a bad grade on something? Are you skinny but still insist you're fat? Cry about it and get over it. You'll survive and life will, indeed, go on. Too many times we get wrapped up in our own little agendas and don't realize that the little things in life not working out for us doesn't mean the world is going to end.
     When I googled "Petit family" several crime scene photos came up that I could have posted if I wanted to attract attention to myself and my blog due to pure impact. I didn't even consider that. I decided on the above photo because I wanted everybody to see Bill Petit happily next to his family, the way that they all deserve to be remembered.

New York Times excerpt taken from http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/p/petit_family/index.html 

Image taken from http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-20016862-504083.html