Because We Like A Happy Ending

There's been a story in the news recently of a family, The Kims, from San Francisco who went missing after Thanksgiving. Most of you have probably read or seen news reports regarding this. They were traveling from Seattle, down through Oregon, coming home to San Francisco. The wife and two small children were found, but the husband---who had set out on foot through rugged Oregon wilderness looking for help---remained missing for two more days. They found his body about an hour ago. I was surprised by how sad and utterly disappointed I was when the news broke. It seems that there was a lot of emotion invested in the search mission which has now become, sadly, a recovery operation. Even the undersheriff, while making the announcement, broke down.

What seems to make this story even sadder is that, in hindsight, there's the realization that Mr. Kim would be safe now had he NOT tried to find help. And yet, do you just wait for your whole family to die? I'm sure he felt that he had to do something. They'd already been stranded for four days before he left. Heartbreaking.

How is it that we sometimes become instantly attached to some news stories? We hold our breath and hope for good news. We anxiously wait to hear updates. We feel like we're part of it, even though we might be hundreds of miles away. Maybe this one seemed more gripping because the family lives nearby. The members of this family were total strangers and yet, through news stories, etc., they became real and familiar. I guess it's just that we like when the unlikely happens. We want heroes, we want the odds to be beaten, we want a happy ending.