Some months after the three women were discovered in the home of a man in Ohio, one of the women appeared in an hour-long special on ABC. In the promotion leading up to the airing, in the commercial, the background music was a triumphant Kelly Clarkson hit single "What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger". This is actually trying to juxtapose an image of triumph with the torment of being abducted for thirteen years, almost to imply that the women can be healed and move on, having conquered what happened to them.
But, I thought, how much more fitting Kelly Clarkson's "Because of You" would have been in this case.
Because of you I'll never stray too far from the sidewalk
Because of you I learned to play on the safe side so I don't get hurt
Because of you I find it hard to trust not only me but everyone around me
Because of you, I am afraid
It's unfortunate that evil exists. But it is okay to admit that there are things done to people that one can never really recover from and receive healing. We can't whitewash it with fleeting promises of a fix or a transformation. The trauma some suffered is too great to know healing in this life. And that's sad. But that's truth.
