Online Web Condolences Pour In for Mother and Surviving Triplet
During the past week, many have logged on to Boylan Funeral Home's Web site to send on-line condolence messages to Nicole and Ethan Morrison. Today, the Cranberry mother and her seriously injured 4-year-old son will bury the other three members of their family -- husband and father, Spencer, and triplets Garret and Alaina -- who were killed Thursday in a freak accident on Route 8 in Richland.
The online outpouring for the Morrisons -- a funeral home spokesman said it's the most e-mails to date for the 2-year-old Web feature -- doesn't surprise George A. Bonanno, an associate professor of clinical psychology at Columbia University's Teachers College.
"We do tend to feel like there's some way we should interact," Dr. Bonanno said. "I think death brings us to the core of life. We lead very busy lives yet we are all basically animals and are wired to have reactions to death."
This article, written by Steve Levin, appeared in the April 19th, 2006 publication of the Pittsburgh-Post Gazette.
Published Thursday, Apr. 20, 2006