Parents find peace by sharing online

2013-01-08 20:26

New York - The parents of two children, who police say were stabbed to death by a nanny at home, are sharing their hurt and healing with the world on Facebook as they make plans to carry on with their surviving child.

Kevin and Marina Krim spent weeks grieving their children's October slayings with relatives in their native California and in recent days have been postings messages online as they drive a recreational vehicle back to New York with their 4-year-old daughter, Nessie.

"She saves us every day," Kevin Krim, a media executive, wrote on 28 December, Nessie's birthday. "Marina and I couldn't be more proud of her - she is very smart, beautiful and tough."

Nessie was at a swim lesson and her mother had gone to pick her up when 6-year-old Lucia, called Lulu, and 2-year-old Leo were stabbed in a bathroom of the family's apartment a block from Central Park.

Nanny Yoselyn Ortega lay nearby after slitting her own throat and wrists, police said.

Ortega, who is from the Dominican Republic, survived.

Pleaded not guilty

She pleaded not guilty to murder charges and is in a prison hospital, undergoing psychiatric evaluations. Police and friends have said she was in debt, had lost her apartment and had expressed frustration the Krims didn't pay her more.

After the children's funeral, the shattered couple established the Lulu & Leo Fund to raise money for children's education and enrichment programmes.

On the Facebook page for the fund, the parents write that they are doing things their children would have enjoyed and "hoping to experience some inspiring moments that will help us with our healing and rebuilding."

In Los Angeles, they found a gallery that displayed a mural by Leo Politi, Lulu's favourite children's author.

"Lulu and Leo were there in spirit with us for our Christmas Eve adventure," Marina Krim wrote.

On 5 January, the third day of their cross-country trip, they were in Santa Fe, New Mexico, visiting art galleries "that we are sure Lulu and Leo would have loved".

Lulu's art fills the Facebook page, along with photos of the smiling little girl and her brother. And now, there's also Santa Fe art the children might have liked: a painting of two bears riding a bicycle, another of three hearts.

Another loss

Krim, who worked as general manager of CNBC's digital media division, and his wife, a stay-at-home mom, did not return messages from AP. A family friend said the Krims weren't ready to give interviews.

After last month's massacre of 20 first-graders and six school administrators at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, the couple expressed their feelings for those children and their families.

"Our hearts especially go out to all the families who have lost their children in an act of unspeakable violence," they wrote. "As parents who are dealing with loss and grief, we understand how much these children will be missed every minute of every day."

Online, hundreds of friends, relatives and strangers have been posting responses.

The grieving couple said they're hopeful 2013 "will be a year of healing, growth and peace."

- AP