Why some parental acts should never be pitied and are purely selfish

Associated Press article titled Boy escapes out window as mother drives minivan into Hudson River, killing herself and three children told the story about “a 10-year-old boy escaping through the window of a minivan and swam to shore to get help just as his mother drove the van into New York's Hudson River, killing herself and three other children, police said today.”   When I first heard the story my heart went out to the mother and the four children but then I thought why should I feel pity for the mother?  She made the choice of suicide for the three children alone without giving them an opportunity to decide for themselves.  This was not the act of a mother who loved her children but rather a selfish act of a coward who could no longer stand to live in this world and instead of taking her own life she decided to take the lives of three innocent children which in my book are called murder.

When “Lashanda Armstrong drove that minivan into the river off a boat ramp in the city of Newburgh about 8 p.m. Tuesday, shortly after a domestic incident,” she did so acutely aware that she was taking innocent people with her.  She was afraid to face life alone and it is clear she could not face dying alone as well.  Landon, Lance and 11 month old Lainaina will never have the chance to grow up and experience life because a selfish mother thought that their lives were hers to control.  If Lashaun, the 10 year old, had not been aware enough to escape through that window, his siblings would also never get the chance to rest in peace.  He must now deal with the deepest wound ever for the rest of his life as well as the nightmares and second-guessing that will forever haunt him.

This was not an act of any kind except selfishness on the part of Lashanda Armstrong and the pity that I once felt has turned into anger.  Not anger at the mother herself but at her choice to supersede her authority over those four children by substituting what their wishes may have been with hers.  I shall pray for her soul and the soul of the child left behind but I feel quite confident that the soul of the other three are already in heaven seeking a way to return to earth.