Mike Stebbins
Yesterday morning, Michael Stebbins passed away. In February of this year, Michael commented on the 45th anniversary of the murder of his younger brother Mark:
As Marney Keenan told me, Mike was “as sweet as could be until the end.” She put it really well: “He got dealt a horrible deal in life, but he never pretended otherwise. He never played the victim card and he had a huge heart.”
A friend pointed out to me: “Thank goodness for Marney; she feels all of the pain and frustration of the victims’ families. We cannot undo what happened to the children, but telling the truth can stop the prolonged, unnecessary pain of living in doubt, knowing of the deceit, for the survivors. All of the a**hole complicit enablers go home to their families every night with pretty much intact lives, while the rest of the families live with a gaping whole of brokenness that is a lot larger because of the deceit. All it takes is for the system to start with the known suspects who had a history of violence against children, well before these four children became their targets.”
My friend also pointed out that every passing family member is like losing a link to the solidarity of wanting truth and justice. It is not hard to imagine the mental havoc this takes on a person’s health.
As Marney said: “I believe he is with Mark and his mom now and that’s right where he’s meant to be for a long time.”
Bless you, Mike.