Elizabeth Smart testimony today

[scottie]

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/home/50...ndant.html.csp

It's so painful to read. I can't imagine how relieved the Smarts will be after Mitchell is finally sentenced.

[TripletDaddy]

Plus she has already given the exact same testimony before.

I guess she was released for a bit so she could testify and then back to Paris? It sounds like she is leading an incredibly successful life now. Hopefully she will Continue to thrive.

It must be extremely awkward to meet her or know her socially, at least at first. You don't want to ask, you are kind of curious about her story, you want to treat her like any other friend, you know she isn't like anyone else you may have met, and she probably wonders whether people like her for her or for her infamy.

[old_gregg]

Plus she has already given the exact same testimony before.

I guess she was released for a bit so she could testify and then back to Paris? It sounds like she is leading an incredibly successful life now. Hopefully she will Continue to thrive.

It must be extremely awkward to meet her or know her socially, at least at first. You don't want to ask, you are kind of curious about her story, you want to treat her like any other friend, you know she isn't like anyone else you may have met, and she probably wonders whether people like her for her or for her infamy.

My little brother's good friend was in the MTC with her, and from it sounds like she is incredibly graceful and meek. I'm sure she's sustained immense psychological trauma, but that she's recovering as well as possible.

[SeattleUte]

My little brother's good friend was in the MTC with her, and from it sounds like she is incredibly graceful and meek. I'm sure she's sustained immense psychological trauma, but that she's recovering as well as possible.

She does not seem meek to me, and it seems to me she is whole.

[Katy Lied]

It must be extremely awkward to meet her or know her socially, at least at first.

She really does light up a room, and she probably would even if she had never experienced her tragedy. She's direct and gracious about gawkers. Everyone knows who she is and what she went through and strangely, it transforms her into everybody's sister/daughter/friend. Hard to explain but there it is.

[Babs]

She does not seem meek to me, and it seems to me she is whole.

It seems like she's been forced to recognize that her worth is not dependent on how men treat her or what men think of her. That would certainly set her apart. Very few American women ever learn to establish a separate, independent sense of self.

[dabrockster]

Is anyone else having problems accessing that link??

[cougjunkie]

The details in the transcript are sickening to read. The stuff he made her do, the way he tied her to a tree for a month and a half. He forced her to drink alcohol and smoke cigarettes unbelievable. Then he would plan days for her to perform sex acts on him she said those days she would not eat and then drink heavy amounts of alcohol because she knew if she didn't eat she would get intoxicated faster and she did not want to be sober when she was doing those things. He deserves to be locked up for the rest of his life.

[Indy Coug]

I read an account of her testimony from a year ago or so and I have no desire to read any of this. It's beyond horrifying what she had to go through and I can only pray she is or can be healed in all respects from her ordeal and can have a happy, fulfilling life.

[PaloAltoCougar]

She does not seem meek to me, and it seems to me she is whole.

Unfortunately, "meekness" in English has, over time, become associated with being weak or overly submissive. But the word has Scandinavian and Germanic origins that suggest a more powerful and positive connotation. In German, the word for meekness is sanftmut which translates into English as "quiet [or gentle] courage". Elizabeth seems to personify the real definition of meekness.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Everyone knows who she is and what she went through and strangely, it transforms her into everybody's sister/daughter/friend. Hard to explain but there it is.

Yes. I saw her in a store once and I wanted to walk up and give her a hug, but of course that would have been the worst thing to do. I'll never forget hearing the news that she was found and was alive. I hope she has a happy life.

[TripletDaddy]

One other sidebar to this story that doesnt get much run.....when E-Smart was missing, her father was a suspect for awhile. I remember folks conjecturing publicly that he was guilty, that he appeared to be a homosexual (and therefore was likely abusing his daughter), and a few other random theories.

Whoops.

He probably found out who his real friends were during that ordeal.

I see these pics of this girl who is now a lovely young woman, incredibly intelligent, accomplished, cultured, socially aware (I believe she has given herself somewhat to political activism), yet I still cant seem to shake the image of the little girl from the Missing Person poster. Her facial features still appear to be very similar and when I see her pics this week in the Trib, it is as though no time has passed at all. I wonder if Elizabeth would prefer everyone to move on so that she can also finally move on.

[Indy Coug]

Hopefully the ending of this trial will allow her to finally become as anonymous as she wants to be.

[MarkGrace]

The Mo's were killin' it on Dateline last nights. First story was Elizabeth Smart, second was about this married RM from Utah that goes to these retreats called "Journey Into Manhood" to help him suppress same sex attraction.

[TripletDaddy]

The Mo's were killin' it on Dateline last nights. First story was Elizabeth Smart, second was about this married RM from Utah that goes to these retreats called "Journey Into Manhood" to help him suppress same sex attraction.

I also heard a mention of Neon Trees last night on satellite radio.