I have debated about writing a post for three days now. But I have to get my feeling outs about this shift that has happened in my world. I realize that outside the community that I grew up in it's just another news story. But Friday March 25 about 4:00 I got a call that would rattle me. My mother called which wasn't out of the normal and it was actually about the time she calls me everyday. The kids were playing some game and being their usual loud selves. I answered the phone and said hello and my mom asked me how I was doing (I had been suffering through my usual bouts of headaches/migraines) I said I was doing good, and then there was a pause and I heard the tears in her voice when she struggled to get out the next sentence. "I have horrible news..." Immediately my mind started to reel, my brother had been having some health problems and had recently had what they figured to be a heart attack so I braced myself for that. Then my mother said, "The Hall's are all dead" and she started to sob. That is when I felt the world shift, I couldn't have heard her right I ran into my bedroom and shut the door to get away from the noise of the kids and said "what? who???" She repeated herself and told me quickly that she had received a call from the mother/grandmother in Vegas and that it was already on the news. She then told me that she had to go because she had things she needed to take care off for her and hung up. I stood there in shock not knowing what to say or do. I walked back out into the kitchen and just kind of stood there shaking. Soon I heard the garage door open and Shawn came in, it didn't take him long to realize something was wrong. I ran to him and sobbed out what my mom had told me.
I went on line and tried to read up as much as I could but there really wasn't a lot. It was believed that James Hall had killed Kathy his wife and Erik their disabled son and then killed himself. A double murder-suicide. The words themselves weren't new to me. Being a forensic freak and the daughter of a mortician I had heard about things like this all the time. I watch forensic shows every night before I go to bed. But this was different, this was in my world. This wasn't just another news story that happened to someone else. I knew these people, for about 30 years I knew these people. Kathy was my preschool teacher and a young women's leader, Jim was one of my Sunday school teachers. Erik was friends with my brother. I was a server at Raina's (the oldest daughter)wedding and she was friends with my sister. Their youngest daughter Melisa was my friend, I remember sleepovers in their family room. I remember playing with Melisa and playing with Erik's He-Man toys (an odd memory I know but one that has always stayed with me). Erik had been just days away from leaving on his mission when he got in a skiing accident. The ward and the community came together and prayed and supported the Hall's and Erik in their struggles. Eagle Projects, Young Women's service projects, fund raisers and auctions were held to get the things the Hall's needed.
Even after getting married and moving away I was still connected to this family, through Facebook and through my mom. My mom spent and is still spending countless hours helping the Hall's, as did many other church members, because they were like family. I was updated regularly on how things were going. This last fall things for the family took a turn for the worse when they lost their house. They were forced to foreclose and shortly after is when they moved to a facility in Brigham City.
As I posted on my Facebook page,the only solace that I get from this terrible tragedy is that I know Erik is finally free from the mortal body that has held him captive for all these years (17 I believe). For those of you who don't know the Hall's and are reading this there is something else I want to convey, The Hall's are wonderful and caring people and will be greatly missed.
My thoughts and prayers are with Raina and Melisa and the rest of the Hall family.
