Bittersweet

I just read that Brian David Mitchell in the Elizabeth Smart case was found guilty with no mental illness. This makes me happy and sad on many levels.

I will sleep better tonight knowing that there is justice for Elizabeth Smart. She deserves this closure and end to all the hell that she was put through. I hope that she is a little bit more at peace tonight. I hope that she can find the closure that she needs and will be able to move on with her life. I think she's already done a great job at trying to sort everything out and not blame the world for what has happened to her.

I think she's a very strong individual and I hope that she is happy.

I'm also a little bit sad for everyone involved. Sad that this happened at all, sad that no matter what justice was served or how things have turned out, some if not all of them will have emotional damage from this. It may make you stronger as a person but no one should have to go through losing a daughter/sister/father or anything for that matter. I feel sad for Brian David Mitchell's family. They'll be sleeping a little worse knowing that their son/father/friend didn't turn out to be a very good guy. His step-daughter in this situation gets the lose/lose end of the deal. Even though she knows that what he did was wrong and that he needs to be in prison, it still means that she has to live without him.

It makes me grateful for what I have and that I have had a relatively good life with little to fret over. I'm happy that there is a verdict and that decisions have been made so that everyone has closure, but I think a little sadness is there.

I remember back when she was kidnapped. She's only a couple  years older than me and it scared me a lot thinking that it could happen to me and that she must be feeling so empty and so alone. It makes me very grateful for what I have and all the loving people in my life that I can hug a little bit tighter.