True, I should have reconsidered posting here. But I'm his brother-in-law. He lived in Brooklyn Park. Max's full name ends the same as Erich's: Max John Wagar. His mother Judy was at our house in St. Paul for Thanksgiving. Gretchen and Courtney still live on Jersey Ave. The green urn from the memorial service still sits on the dresser over Gretchen's bed.
Believe me, we had our bouts of inappropriate comments. But moralizing about it was not part of the program. Selfish? Not hardly. Gretchen gave him full permission. She is still angry over the fact that it happened, but Erich knew that would be the case before every jump he made.
The only thing that surprises me is that a group of people who claim to be from a party built on "moral values" have reacted so callously and childishly to a tragic event that hits so close to home for me.
So go ahead, call me a troll. Call me a fool. I know who I am and I knew who Erich was. And when little Max grows up, I can't wait to tell him all about his daddy and how great he truly was.
So yes, Erich screwed up. We know. Gretchen knows. I'm sure HE knows. But think about how your words affect the rest of us.
Why, out all of the millions of web sites, chat rooms, and blogs on the 'Net, did you choose to come to FR and join just to post a remembrance of your brother-in-law? It seems rather suspicious to a few of us.
I think the Lib's would say, "We question the timing....."
One of the hall-marks of our necro-troll is that he spends all his time finding every possible article on the victim and collecting every bit of info and trying to "impress" us with his "inside" knowledge. I turned all that information such as Mom's name, etc. on Google searches.
However, I doubt that if you were a true relative, you'd bother giving a website full of people who thinks your brother was a moron so much "personal" info.
I have thought about it and, sorry, I just don't care how my words affect any of you. I don't understand why they would affect any of you, really, or why you believe our words are really any of your business.
If you don't want strangers talking about you after you've died, don't die in such a spectacularly stupid manner that you make the news...and if you are truly "affected" by the comments of people you'll never meet, your priorities are all out of whack.