Community Chat

[Free2be]

Elizabeth is the very most shining example of how to cope with the trauma of having life utterly changed in a flash.  I wish there was a way everyone could learn from her and model her ability to keep a logical perspective without falling into an emotional tar pit.

[bathina]

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@Free2be wrote:

Elizabeth is the very most shining example of how to cope with the trauma of having life utterly changed in a flash.  I wish there was a way everyone could learn from her and model her ability to keep a logical perspective without falling into an emotional tar pit.

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I think she has and has always had a tremendous support network and comes from a family of means. It's not everything, but it does mean something when trying to recover from the horror she endured.

[AuntG]

Elizabeth must feel victimized all over again. What happened to the creepy guy?

[SunValley]

Elizabeth Smart is a well known survivor of an attack, but there are hundreds, maybe thousands, of victims who also have to deal with their attackers being released. I feel for everyone who has to live with this anxiety and fear of what could happen next.

[cimeranrose]

These are Elizabeth Smart's own words: "I grew up in a family that instilled a very strong sense of faith in me...It was that faith and that knowledge of God that He would always love me that helped me survive the next 9 months and it continues to help me survive to this day...In my own life and in the countless other lives of survivors that I've spoken with, it has been the power of faith that has allowed us, not only to persevere, but to find true peace and happiness."

[lovesrecess]

Releasing this woman is victiming Elizabeth all over again...how can she and her family feel safe with this woman allowed to go free?

[pigletsmom]

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@esmerelda wrote:

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@Big Joanie wrote:

Truly disturbing ... poor Elizabeth ....

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@Big JoanieI wonder how she would react to that way of thinking of her.  She seems to be a well-adjusted young wife and mother, despite what happened to her...and not defined by it.

I've heard many times of people...victims or their families...showing up at parole hearings in an effort to keep the offender behind bars.  I wonder why it wasn't important enough for anyone in the Smart family...Elizabeth herself?...to be there to speak against the release.

Of course we may not be talking about it, there may not have been any articles, interviews, if that had happened.

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@esmerelda This isn't a parole issue. Her time has been served. Her sentences were supposed to run concurrently but I guess when they put her release date in they didn't account for that and now realized the mistake.