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Blogging Baby Talks: Five Questions for Jeanne Caroline
Filed under: Media
Blogging Baby Talks introduces you to the movers and shakers
in the parenting world. Every week Blogging Baby will interview another blogger, writer, entrepreneur, artist, or
parent in a five-question format. If there's someone you'd like to see interviewed,
let us know. And if you found this installment valuable,
be sure to check out our
previous Talks columns.
In 2003, Jeanne Caroline's life changed forever. It was on September 5th that police officers came to her home and told her that her son, Seanne, had been shot dead by a friend playing with a gun. The friend's father, Lousi Mevec Sr., was arrested and subsequently found guilty of culpable negligence for storing the loaded weapon underneath his couch. The sentence was cold comfort for Sean and Jeanne Caroline, who are still mourning the loss of their beloved son. Blogging Baby spoke with Jeanne about how she copes with his absence, what she thinks of Mevec, and how she hopes other families can learn valuable lessons from their tragedy.
1. How long did it take you to come to terms with the fact that you had lost your son?
I dont know if I will ever really come to terms, that my most precious thing in life (my son Seanne) is gone.
2. Obviously, the loss of a child would have a profound impact on any parents existence. What are some of the drastic changes that have occurred in your life since Seannes passing?
The house is quiet, no children running through anymore. There is no scheludule, just very long days. Our house used to have so much life and now, there is none. Eight months after Seanne was shot, I tried to join him. My husband saved my life. I feel some days I have to fight for my sanity. Now has been my husbands turn. It seems when one of us is weak, the other is strong.
3. This was a preventable tragedy. The father of the boy who shot your son was sentenced to three years in prison for his negligence. Do you think this was a fair sentence? Do you forgive the father? If not, do you think you will ever be able to forgive him?
I am glad the father did indeed receive a prison term for his negligence. I was hoping for a longer sentence only to warn, even scare others into locking up their guns. Mr. Mevec didnt want his child to shoot another child to death, but it happened - and it happened to my child. His life in prison is for only three years. Ours is forever.
Do I forgive him? Do I forgive his son who was old enough to know better than point a gun at my Childs head and pull the trigger, not once, but three times? I am trying everyday to forgive both of them!
4. Were you married at the time of the incident? Has your marriage remained intact? If so, how did you and your husband keep everything from unraveling in the face of this tragedy?
My husband, also named Sean, and I have been married almost 16 years. We are the only ones that will ever know each others pain. We as his parents loved him more than anyone! We will never leave each others side. We grieve differently; I had to learn this at the beginning. But we both grieve with the same degree of pain.
5. Youve created a new site dedicated to your son and to the issues of gun safety and gun control. What good things do you hope to produce from his legacy?
I hope that parents will see that we were just a normal, average family that was struck by tragedy. I hope that parents will take that extra step in protecting their children and the lives of other children. If I can reach just one family with the story of my son, then my sons Web site has done what it was intended for.
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 2)
12-18-2005 @ 6:37PM
jeanphony said...Your "fun, five-question format" lead-in is maybe not quite appropriate to the death of a child?
Reply
12-18-2005 @ 6:37PM
Jay Allen said...Jean is referring to the intro text, which is canned text we use at the top of all of our Talks articles. I've changed the canned text to reflect the more sober nature of this week's article.
Thanks for the catch, Jean
Reply
12-18-2005 @ 6:37PM
Teri said...We just had a couple of boys 9 and 14 years old lose their lives here in Michigan. It's such a shame that all this could be prevented if parents took the time to lock up their guns. Parents think they can talk to their kids and tell them how dangerous guns are, but that won't prevent the accidents. We have to protect are children.
I just don't understand why more hasn't been done by now. How many dead children does it take.
Reply
12-18-2005 @ 6:37PM
Robbie Miller said...It is a shame what happened to that child and his family. What courage this mother has!!! If this would have been my kid, I don't know what I would have done. That father is real lucky he only got 3 years. What happened to his own son? He destroyed his own son also.
Reply
12-18-2005 @ 6:37PM
Lloyd said...God bless this family and their efforts to make something good out of something so bad. To me, it seems that good parents always have to suffer, but what Jeanne Caroline is doing now to save other families and their children seems to show how much love that family REALLY HAD! From a father that wouldn't know what to do if that happened to my child!
Reply
12-18-2005 @ 6:37PM
Paula Dumal said...I am hoping that this mother can find peace. Her website is such a great gift to so many. I hope she knows this. I am also hoping that both of Seans parents make it through the hardest heardache that life can bring. They will be in my prays.
Reply
12-18-2005 @ 6:37PM
Amanda Coultas said...Why did this father leave a loaded gun under his couch? Why did that boy pick the 12 year old kid to shot? Was these questions ever asked? Maybe Mr. and Mrs. Caroline should find out if something was wrong with this other older boy! Sean Caroline wasn't doing anything but playing a video game. Why did the boy want to point the gun at him?
Reply
12-18-2005 @ 6:37PM
kathy said...This father that ruined so many lives should have to spend a lot more time in prison then what he got. If the gun was not there, the little boy Sean would be alive today. Too many stupid parents out there!
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12-18-2005 @ 6:37PM
Katie said...Jeanne- you're an awesome woman! God bless you for all the hard work you are putting into keeping Seanne's name heard again and again. You might even be the one to get our government to actually act on some sort of gun lock laws. We all know that Seanne's case changed FL history when Louis' dad was jailed for his son's behavior. I love you. Stay strong!
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12-18-2005 @ 6:37PM
Suzy said...I had the pleasure of knowing Seanne, and I have met Jeanne and Sean Sr. Sean was one of the little boys in my aunt's neighborhood who would be running through the house with all of the other kids, playing and joking and picking on the girls like little boys do. My sister and I have a wonderfully fond memory of playing with him at my little cousin's birthday party. We were dancing and singing and playing games and having such a blast! This little boy was so silly and funny! The feelings that the community as a whole have experienced are beyond words, and the pain for Jeanne and Sean are a million times worse than that. Thankfully, they are goodhearted people who are trying to prevent this tragedy from happening to anyone else. God bless their family. We're praying for you!
Reply
12-18-2005 @ 6:37PM
Sue said...After looking into the issue of gun access and gun safety, why isn't our government and president for that matter making gun safety locks mandatory? Why is there so many gun incidents and fatalities in the United States? There are way too many guns out there that seem to get into the wrong hands. Why are guns so accessible? Since our President and Government are more interested in their own selfish agendas, why doesn't the NRA offer the promotion of gun safety? Shouldn't that be part of their organization? Or is it all about the thought of killing, killing and hunting (killing)!!!
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12-18-2005 @ 6:37PM
Mike said...I read this web site a lot and was very surprised to read about the Caroline family. I remember about a year or so ago when this happened to their family. Everyone I knew was talking about it. In all the trials that went on over several months, that poor family had to sit and listen to things, no normal parents would ever want to hear. Besides that, they had to be bothered by media after media. I wish only peace for this family and I know it will probably take a very long time. For them to start a web site in their sons memory and the protection of all our kids, I think they are very wonderful people and I don't even know them. Please send my prayers to the Caroline family!
Reply
12-18-2005 @ 6:37PM
A MOM said...I hope people really read what this mother has said. It came from her heart. I know she must feel more pain than she describes. I also went into her web site and found myself crying over her story, for it is the story of every family in America. Why do bad things happen to such good people? Why such a innocent child that was so loved, have to die? The adults of today need to get it together real FAST! This has to stop and stop soon.
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12-18-2005 @ 6:37PM
Katie said...Love you Jeanne! You're doing such an awesome job keeping Seanne's memory alive and doing what you've can to change gun lock safety. Seaanne's case has already made history by putting the father in jail for his son's actions. Love you girl!
Reply
12-18-2005 @ 6:37PM
JoJo said...I read about child-shootings all too much. When is our un-feeling Government going to do something about it? How many of all of OUR CHILDREN going to have to die? These are the next rulers of our country!! All our politicions care about is what makes them look good and they wouldn't look to good in the eyes of the NRA! And please don't tell me that the NRA cares. Like that other person wrote, if they do, why don't they try to put extra protection on their money makers.
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12-18-2005 @ 6:37PM
K said...I am hoping that a lot of parents end up reading about these issues that continue to be the cause of so many deaths among our young kids. It is such an ongoing tradegy that happens not just with the Caroline family, but to so many families. If you think that this can never happen to your kids, think again!!!!!!!
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12-18-2005 @ 6:37PM
SKMB said...I think that the father that left the gun under the couch, loaded and ready to kill should have recieved more prison time. It was almost like giving his kid the gun and saying shoot it. That kid knew where it was and the father told him that. Read all the news articles! That boy had shown the gun to several children before the day he shot the Caroline boy. And the father never knew? RIGHT!
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12-18-2005 @ 6:37PM
Katie said...I hope this message from you stays on for quite a while Jeanne. It's important that we recognize how easily we could lose our kids to such horrific tragedies.
Reply
12-18-2005 @ 6:37PM
PJ said...What a nightmare this family has and will forever go through. My heart and soul will pray for the Caroline family and all the other families that have lost their children to gun violence. Bless all the innocent children. Sincerely, PJ
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12-18-2005 @ 6:37PM
B.Robin said...I am 15 years old. My Mom showed me about what happened to this boy named Sean. Here in California, stuff like that happens and it is scary to think it could happen to me. My Mom and Dad don't have guns. My Mom said that the boy would died Mom and Dad didn't have guns neither. I think that man and that other kid should get in big trouble for killing Sean Caroline. My Mom said that they didn't get enough. Your suppose to when you take somebodys life like that. I think Sean Mom is good like my Mom. From Ben
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