TWO LITTLE BOYS

This story is very personal and emotional for me.  I wanted to write about it last week, but found it difficult to compose more than a few times.

Connor and Brandon Moore, aged 2 and 4, were home with their mother in Staten Island when last week’s Superstorm Sandy hit the New York area. When Glenda Moore lost power in her home, she scooped up her 2 sons and tried to drive to safety at her mother’s house.

Not long after heading down the road, the flooding began — fast! Before Glenda knew it, the road was washed out and the winds were increasing. Her maternal instincts kicking in, Glenda grabbed her 2 sons and tried to run to safety at a nearby home. She knocked on the door, pleading for the homeowner to let her and her infant sons in from the storm. He refused. With flood waters rising and her options diminishing, she made her way to the back of the house and tried to break open a window with a flower pot. It didn’t work. With no other recourse, she grabbed the large root of an overturned tree and clung to it with one hand and her sons with the other hand.  After several grueling hours, the water and the winds were too much to bear and she lost the grip on her boys. The flood waters swept young Conner and Brandon out of her arms to the sounds of her agonizing and helpless screams.

The next day, police found the bodies of Conner and Brandon in a nearby marsh, as a community was overcome with sympathy for the mother who tried to seek help but was inexplicably turned away.

This story is beyond sad. Perhaps what’s even more sad is that CNN caught up with the man and questioned him on why he refused to help the young, African-American mother who was so obviously in distress and trying to save her 2 little boys.  His explanation was pathetic!

I wish to honor the lives of Conner and Brandon Moore today. So many people lost everything during last week’s Superstorm, but to Glenda Moore, Conner and Brandon WERE her EVERYTHING!