In the wee hours of the morning, fifty seven years ago, Catherine "Kitty" Genovese was murdered. She was 28-years-old, then; today she would have been 85.
Most know the basics of the story--the convict scum Winston Moseley, who hunted down, raped and killed her, the urban legned of city apathy it engendered, and the national outrage it imposed on our nation.
But, fifty seven years later, I want to focus on the one bit of compassion that is rarely talked about.
Kitty did not die alone.
Bleeding profusely, she snuck into the back entrance of her Austin Street apartment, in Kew Gardens, Queens, collapsing on the stairwell.
A door opened, and out stepped Sophia Farrar, a neighbor. Recognizing Kitty and her peril at once, she got her husband to call the cops, or ambulance, while holding the still living, still bleeding girl in her arms.
And it was in the arms of this compassionate woman that Kitty Genovese died. The angels took her, but without the lack of compassion assumed.
Last year, Sophia Farrar died, on August 28, 2020, at the age of 92.
So, while we remember the tragedy of Kitty's death, and the lack of empathy it did generate, never let us forget the compassion of the one good woman who stood beside her--Sophia Farrar.
Let us use this day to mourn Kitty, but celebrate Sophia!!!!!!!!!!!!
2 comments:
Bear each other’s burdens...
Victoria,
Yes, indeed. This is someting I
will never forget!
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