Descent Into Madness

Jennifer and Richard built the house we've lived in coming up on 13 years this February. We love the place --it's been the source of so many precious memories. It was built by Richard and Jennifer, a husband and wife architect team. They bought the house that was damaged by Hurricane Andrew, tore it down, and proceeded to recreate an Italian Villa they had visited. Everything was custom -- Richard told me they set up a mini sawmill to fashion the custom roof joists, cut from cypress. Jennifer lovingly picked each paint color and room layout... We met them when we bought the place, and Jennifer came back several times to visit. Her adorable, blonde kids, Jackie and Alex, "missed the Yellow House." Wifey became friendly with Jennifer, and spoke to her through the years. The family moved to West Palm, and built a smaller version of our house in El Cid, a historic neighborhood on the Intracoastal. Wifey followed Jennifer and the kids on Facebook (tm). Jennifer said she was getting a divorce, but gushed about her kids -- they attended Dreyfoos School, apparently the West Palm version of Miami's prestigious New World School of the Arts -- you have to be talented and smart to get in. The kids were accomplished violinists and cellists. Yesterday my news junkie nature pointed me to a story of a mother killing her teen kids, and then herself. It was Jennifer. She shot Alex and Jackie, who are now 15 and 16, and then herself. The paper said the divorce and financial problems drove her to despair. I told Wifey and the Ds. The Ds recalled that their bedrooms still have crayon marks from when Alex and Jackie had drawn on the walls -- low down, near the floor. We were all shocked and saddened. Who knows what happens when a person descends into madness? What drove Jennifer, a former beauty queen, to do what she did? Of course, there are no answers, but we're left sickened and bereft. Life isn't fair, as I've tried to impress upon the Ds ever since they were little. But it can be amazingly exquisite. Now it's just wasted, for 2 wonderful kids, and their pretty mother...