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There is no making lemonade from the lemon-laced story of Josh Powell. You don't find "silver linings" in the story of a father who police say murdered his own sons in cold blood by exploding their Washington home. But even a realist like me didn't think it could get this bad. I didn't think little Charlie and Braden Powell would have to be haunted for all eternity by the man who killed them.
But if plans to bury the deceased father in the same cemetery where his children were laid to rest aren't stopped, that's exactly what will happen. The plot already dug for Powell's casket overlooks the spot where mourners bid a final farewell to the little boys. How outrageous!
Chuck and Judy Cox, the grandparents of the little boy and parents of their mom, Susan Powell, who went missing two years ago, have announced they'll pursue legal action if the cemetery's overseers don't put a stop to it themselves. That means the whole mess is on hold.
Frankly, I'm horrified it got this far to begin with. I get that Josh Powell has to be buried somewhere. I even have sympathy for his family, who are grieving not only the loss of him and his little boys but the loss of something less tangible but no more real: the loss of their dreams. They may once have thought that Josh was a good person. They may not have believed the police who had named Josh the sole "person of interest" in the disappearance of Susan. But when he blew up that house with the little boys inside, they had to face the fact that their family member was indeed a monster.
But out of respect for those little boys, the people planning Josh's burial should have thought about this. Strangers thought about the boys -- Pierce County Sheriff Paul Pastor and Detective Ed Troyer actually bought the plots on either side of Charlie and Braden's final resting place to ensure Josh couldn't be buried there. Why didn't their own family think that way?
And what about the managers of this cemetery? I'll admit I'm not 100 percent sure how discrimination laws play into how plots are sold, but there has to be room for common sense and humanity at the very least. After all, it's a cemetery. Respect for the dead should be their number one priority.
What do you think should be done with Josh Powell's remains?
Image via Natalie Maynor/Flickr
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