Just when I thought I couldn't be shocked

I really figured I had seen and heard it all (even if I hadn't necessarily done it all.)

With all the chaos I had experienced with my family years ago, I really figured that there wasn't much that could shock me.

Please note the date and time here as I freely admit my error in that judgement.

An old high school classmate sent me a message this morning asking me if I had heard from my sister. Of course, I hadn't since we don't talk that much. He said there was big news out of our Home Town this morning. Of course, those words never leave me feeling happy or unworried. He pastes a web link into his messenger window and I check out the article.

What I read left me absolutely stunned. Stunned.

The subject of the article is someone I have known for nearly 25 years. We were classmates for the last 3 years of high school..we played in bands together...socialized...and he was arguably one of the most popular guys at school. Solid family life, devout faith, and a real dedication to his teaching career. He married his high school sweetheart and all that...has 4 kids. As I mentioned to a fellow blogger this morning, "imagine the least likely person about whom you'd receive this news...the person you would simply think it impossible....and my old classmate is that guy."

So you can imagine my surprise to see his name and photo associated with a story of a recent arrest on charges of sexual interference and internet luring.

Him? Uh, this is a joke, right? There's no way. He's not....no...cuz he wasn't ever...you know?

There's a chorus of that running through my mind today.

All I can say is that as much as I feel for the family of the alleged victim, I feel awful for his family because I do know what they're going through. In a small town like ours he was well known and his teaching career is effectively ruined, even if it turns out to be a false accusation. Although the sad realization is that if there's an Internet charge involved, there's probably a trail of some kind...and therefore....some small grain of truth or concern in there somewhere.

Somewhere north of here.....families are going through their pain and hurt and shock

Somewhere north of here.....a community is reacting in disbelief

Somewhere on the sending end of this blog.....a guy is sad for everyone involved and is reliving his own grief and guilt-by-association...hoping that the healing can begin soon.