Lost At Sea...
By twoey68
@twoey68 (13627)
United States
April 7, 2009 9:02pm CST
Recently there was a news story about 4 men lost at sea during a storm…1 man was later rescued but all the others were presumed dead. The officials finally told the families that they were calling off the search and that there was nothing more to do. Some families went home to grieve but some stayed and insisted on searching.
I couldn’t just give up…at least not for a long time. In the back of my mind there’d always be that nagging question of What if…
Could you give up and just go home? Would you keep searching the rest of your life? How would you find closure?
[b]**AT PEACE WITHIN**
~~STAND STRONG IN YOUR BELIEFS~~[/b]
7 people like this
20 responses
@ANTIQUELADY (36440)
• United States
8 Apr 09
i think that would drive me nuts. i don't see how u could ever leave or quit looking altho i'm sure they did all they could do. that's a very sad thing never knowing what happened. we had that happen about an hour's drive from here. four young people went in the water only one was rescued. i saw it on the news every night for days. horrible!
@littleowl (7157)
•
8 Apr 09
That is a really good question twoey, but I really don't know what I would do unless put in the situation..if was my pet, one of my family for definite I would keep on looking, closure is hard to find if someone or a pet goes missing...hugs littleowl
1 person likes this
@guybrush (4658)
• Australia
11 Apr 09
I would definitely keep searching if there were members of my family involved. There is no way you could go home while there was any hope at all. It would be a horrible thing, not having your loved one's body and being able to put them to rest properly.
1 person likes this
@theweerouss (982)
• United States
8 Apr 09
I know the story you're thinking of, and I agree with you, I don't think I would be able to just give up the search, knowing my loved one hadn't been found. The search was called off only about 48 hours after then men were missing, and it was still such a shock that it was hard, even for me as a stranger reading the news, to imagine that they were really gone. It is so sad, what happened, and I pray that the families of those men still missing find the closure that they need in this difficult time.
2 people like this
@scarlet_woman (23463)
• United States
9 Apr 09
i don't think i could find closure.that would always bother me,no matter what i did.
i guess i am one of those people that would never give up hope,no matter how unlikely.
@Pose123 (21635)
• Canada
8 Apr 09
Hi twoey, Sadly this sort of thing has happened all to often in some parts of the world. I think it has to be very difficult for family members to find closure when bodies are not found. Two boys in their early teens went over the cliff into the sea, not far from where I live and their bodies were never found. This happened months ago,yet the fathers are at the site every day hoping that some remains may wash ashore. Blessings.
1 person likes this
@dragon54u (31633)
• United States
8 Apr 09
I would not give up, I couldn't! Was that the football players that were lost? The survivor said the others took off their life jackets and gave up. How sad.
1 person likes this
@nanajanet (4436)
• United States
9 Apr 09
I could not give up, either. If there was any hope at all, I would hang onto it.
@savypat (20216)
• United States
8 Apr 09
It is always very hard not to know what happened. Financial restraint may dictate what you can do. I often wonder how people who have lost children that were abducted
go on with their lives. They must be always on the alert, hoping that their child will turn up alive. A body found doesn't bring closure but it does help with the
constant stress of not knowing.
@paula27661 (15811)
• Australia
8 Apr 09
I guess you don't know what you would do until in you're in the situation but I doubt very much that I could just stop searching and go home; just like that, can't find the person, that's it. I can't imagine the fear and frustration. I do wonder though whether in circumstances like those whether you would get to a point when you would instinctively know when it was time to give up looking. I think I would have to keep searching for a long time though. 
1 person likes this
@scififan43 (2434)
• United States
8 Apr 09
I think if my family lost someone this way it would be hard on us. But one must accept that your loveones are indeed lost and may have perhised. There is only so much that are agenntceys can do to help lost or missing persons. Even if the serch went on longer there is alwasy a chance but who realy knows. Life must go on dispite this things.
@ErrollLeVant (4353)
• United States
8 Apr 09
I don't think it would be easy, but I think I would realize that there was no hope left.
@kbourgerie (8780)
• United States
8 Apr 09
Honestly speaking, I don't know if in situations like this that you can ever find closure. My grandfather jumped from the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco when I was about 10 years old. The procedure for finding bodies is to throw over a buoy which should follow the current, but that particular night was so stormy that they never even found the buoy let alone my grandfathers body. Without the body it makes it hard to find closure and to this day we still look for him to come through the front door.
@DCMerkle (1281)
• United States
8 Apr 09
twoey68,
I think you were talking about the group of men where some of them were NFL players. I felt so bad for the families when they were told that the search was being called off.
I think that if I were in their shoes I would've had the search continue, but with a volunteer group that was willing to do that. It's hard to let go even when you know deep down in your heart that they are gone. Someone would have to make me start closure. A wreath and ceremony at sea would be the only way that culd be done I guess.
DCMerkle
@Barb42 (4214)
• United States
8 Apr 09
That was a sad situation, but the one who survived is the only one who kept holding on. Didn't one of the guys even die in his arms? I would hate to know I could never say my goodbyes to a loved one like those people have had to do.
@tamarafireheart (15384)
•
8 Apr 09
Hi twoey68,
I don't think I would give up but keep searching, while there is hope you have to go on till they find the body, I feel so sad for those families.
Tamara
@suzzy3 (8341)
•
8 Apr 09
It all depends on what the seas were like if they were bitter cold you would have to face reality,horrible to say the least but what else can you do anyway especially if it was getting dark,they would only end up looking for you.How you would find closure is something that is personal to you.No one likes to think their loved one is drowned but you would have to accept what is in front of you.love suzzy3.
