The day after the Surviving Parents Coalition rally Rivazfar, Smart, Lunsford and Runnion met with the newest member of the club no parent wants to join.
Diena Thompson wept as she recalled getting a call at work in 2009 saying her 7-year-old daughter Somer had disappeared while walking home from school. The child's body was soon discovered and police learned she had been sexually assaulted, asphyxiated and tossed in a trash bin, allegedly by a neighbor who also is facing an array of child porn charges. He has pleaded not guilty.
Thompson said she often wakes up and, for a brief moment, thinks her daughter is still alive. A second later reality hits and she remembers the catastrophe that has descended on her.
Thompson's wounds are still fresh. The man police say killed her daughter is awaiting trial and she senses her ordeal is just beginning. But she also knows she is not alone.
The Surviving Parents Coalition works as a support group. Each parent lets the others know they are not alone.
These devastated mothers and fathers sat in a circle and listened as each told their tragic story. Their eyes locked as they shared experiences that are unimaginable for most people but which have become their unalterable reality.
The parents of murdered children cannot bring their kids back. But they can give each other strength and hope. Together they believe they can also make the world a safer place for children who are blissfully unaware of how depraved some people can be.
Rivazfar, Smart, Lunsford, Runnion and Thompson are five of the most inspiring human beings you'll ever meet.
For more information on the Surviving Parents Coalition or "Ride for Their Lives," visit http://www.spcoalition.org/.
