General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: OK. About the Georgia murder of the toddler. [View all]Moonwalk
(2,322 posts)...and find me cold and unfeeling. That's because I think and react in ways that are not typical. This woman is supposedly bi-polar (maybe schizophrenic); if she is, then she's not going to react in a typical way. But that doesn't mean she is cold and unfeeling about her baby or its death.
I know one bi-polar person very well, and when they that dive into depression, it makes them unable to do anything. Between the shooting, the police, the funeral, would it be any surprise if she'd hit a chemical rock-bottom, unable to make even one more decision? So when asked what to do with the ashes she could only answer, as a deeply depressed person would, "you decide."
Or it's possible that she saw those ashes and lost it--"That's not my baby--I don't want them..." Or perhaps she views her baby as in heaven and the ashes just ashes, so it doesn't matter what is done with them. Or she saw that urn of ashes and found herself unable to think of anything but the murder she'd witnessed, over and over and over again. Why would you want to be reminded of that every day rather than of the baby itself, its smiles and laughter?
I know people who, after someone dies, they keep everything and have a hard time getting rid of that person's stuff. I know other people who will get rid of everything that belonged to that person as fast as possible--yet they feel as much grief for as long as the ones who keep that stuff, unable to let it go. Reactions to death vary wildly even among people who have "typical" reactions. How much more so among those with different brain chemistry? And this not-typical woman is dealing with a very not-typical death. Her child murdered in front of her. I don't think we can so easily judge any reaction to such a numbingly horrific tragedy, one where even someone with typical brain chemistry might, in their shock and grief, say and do odd things, as right or wrong.