LETTERS: Say a prayer for two teens

To the editor:
      The news about Joshua Aanestad and Richard VonDeesten in the Dec. 23 and Dec. 30 editions of the South Brunswick Post lies heavy on my heart. I think about them almost every day, hoping that Richard lies in peace, wondering how Joshua is doing, why the police are charging him with the juvenile version of murder, if they still are. But, most of all, why?
      I feel terribly depressed when I wonder why these two boys, who, I would think, would have everything to live for, believed they had nothing to live for. What was their desperation, their despair? How had they lost all hope of ending their agony except for the hope of release by death?
      I do not know either boy, but I am greatly saddened that Richard is dead, and Joshua’s prospects seem bleak. He no longer has any control over his life. It is likely that he will live in a locked room somewhere, closely watched, everything he hears, sees or uses monitored, for at least some period of time.
      Two tragedies. What hope is there for Richard? For Joshua? For their families? What can we do to support them? At first, there seems to be no hope. And, there seems to be nothing most of us can do. But there is hope. There is something we all can do. We can pray for Richard, for Joshua and for their families.
      Besides individual efforts, I’m hoping that South Brunswick residents would bring this to their respective congregations. I’d like to suggest the weekend of Feb. 11, 12 and 13 as a special time for prayer, to join us together community-wide in a spirit of sympathy and love on behalf of those so wounded.
Frank Totten
Monmouth Junction