Lovelyish

Wow, that’s great that people are being so generous to donate to them!

That is amazing. I truly admire her strength.

This was an amazing story.  I am glad so many people are lending a hand to them.

For sure! Kudos to her and her family =)

So sad  It’s nice that so many people are willing to help them.  I hope they get through this.

Girl’s got some serious courage and maturity. I would totally shake her hand and give her a hug for being kind of person I would like to be someday. 

Pretty amazing that so many people are willing to help her.  It is sad that their family lost their parents, but I am glad the oldest is willing to make sure that her family stays together.  Her parents would have been so proud!

good grief…
She did nothing amazing, she did what any normal person would do for family.
How is quitting school a heroic event? If she HADN’T done that, she’d be a selfish bitch, but doing it just makes her normal.

Sad, yes, but this didn’t make her a hero.

Wow this is heartbreaking. I hope she has some family members or grandparents who can help her. That is a lot for a young adult to take on. 

@Under_the_Ghillie – Then Doug, I guess you don’t understand what a hero is. A hero is someone who, in that one moment, in that one choice, decides to serve others and to stand when others need them to. It doesn’t have to be glorious. It doesn’t have to be loud.

It is usually quiet. Hers is the heroic action of simply walking. Of holding up her siblings who are in greater need.

Your comment is sad and degrading. Sad in reflection of you. Degrading in your opinion of others.

@sarahsmurfette@xanga - 
I guess where I come from, taking care of family when they need you is the rule, not the exception. It’s not heroism, it’s humanity.

Had she done this for complete strangers, that would be noble, at best. By your definition, taking out the trash for your grandma because she has a bad hip makes one a hero.

As for your closing statement…*yawn*

@Under_the_Ghillie@xanga - Now you are degrading me. I will respond anyway, against my better judgement, because I think what you have said here in reference to 19 year old Zoe is an unkindness – to a teenager in grief no less.

Do I think it would be heroic for someone to take out the trash for their disabled relative, day in and day out, for the time commitment equal to what Zoe has taken on with her siblings? Yes. I think volunteering to serve someone who cannot serve themselves, and committing to that, walking it, it is heroic.
The heroes of 911. Many of them did nothing but their duty. They did their job. They committed themselves to serving others. Some were also volunteers. Some who served heroically were not officials. They were the people who *just stood* when others needed the symbol of courage and protection, while a city, a nation grieved.
Her younger brothers and sisters are grieving, too. Don’t demean Zoe’s walk because you have problems with the word hero (and don’t think I don’t know your personal history with the word and the reason for your rejection. You are projecting your rejection on this story because you reject it for yourself. This is, however, not your story, and you don’t *get* to demean others and diminish their walk simply because you reject your own – you selfish son of a bitch).

@sarahsmurfette@xanga - 
I’m sorry… If you think I read all of that.
My opinions are unique, in that I don’t need them to be approved by others.

@Under_the_Ghillie@xanga - Why would you comment on this article, yet alone finish reading it, if you think it’s that ordinary?  

@PassionFruit06@xanga -  do you seriously think thats a logical question? If I had found the writing itself to be horrendous, that would be a reason to stop reading. The fact that I disagree with the notion that she is a hero is not cause to stop reading the article, or refrain from giving my opinion on it.

*sigh*

This girl goes to my school, and she’s received a lot of support from our community. I wish her all the best.

She and I were classmates in high school, but I don’t think we’ve ever spoken to each other at all. I’ve been spreading the fundraiser like crazy though, I’m so glad she’s going to be able to get back on her feet :3

@Under_the_Ghillie@xanga - I agree.  It’s a responsibility.  I dropped out of college to join the military and help my mother during a rut we had.  I had been working to help support my parents for a while.

I came across people who thought they were the only ones doing that.

@Under_the_Ghillie@xanga - Agreed.  My sister-in-law dropped out of college to take care of her mother, who was diagnosed with terminal breast cancer.  I had to quit working to take care of my dying grandmother.  It’s nothing any normal and compassionate human being wouldn’t do.

@chronic_masticator@xanga - Exactly. I’m not diminishing that this is a horrible and sad event in their lives, I’mot saying that she shouldn’t have help, and I’m not saying that dropping out of college is no big deal. What I’m saying is that dropping out of college when your parents die, to take care of your brothers or sisters… is an easy decision to make, for almost anyone.

 I know I wouldn’t give it a second thought.

Sympathize with her, admire her for keeping her shit together when her younger siblings need her, but this just isn’t a hero thing. We can sympathize with her without cheapening the sacrifices of people who rushed into burning buildings, putting their very lives at risk (and many losing them) just to save the lives of complete strangers. At most, she has to wait another year or two to get her degree. I think it’s utter bullshit, and a slap in the face to their sarcrifice, to compare her to the first responders on 9/11 as one commentor did earlier.

@Under_the_Ghillie@xanga -  Address me when you are speaking to me, you faker. I stand by what I said earlier, a hero is made in ordinary, everyday things. Who are the blinders for, Doug? You, or the world you work very hard at misleading? You are a deceiver, and I want everyone to know. Your original comment most assuredly WAS demeaning to this girl, Zoe. You said that if she didn’t do it, if she didn’t hold her family together in the worst of circumstances, (while this teenager was grieving) and take the job and burden of all of their lives solely upon her shoulders, that it would make her a bitch.
So don’t back down now and pretend empathy. You aren’t capable of feeling. Remember?

@sarahsmurfette@xanga - Lmao. The world thanks you for your service to them.

I wasn’t speaking to you, I was speaking about you, so I had no need to address you. She absolutely WOULD be a bitch if she didn’t come to her family’s aid when they had need of her, but since she did come to their aid, she isn’t a bitch, and she hasn’t been diminished. Just because I’m not willing to proclaim her a hero does not mean I’m without empathy.

Show me where I’ve deceived anyone, since the comment you’re referring to as my deception was IN THE SAME PUBLIC PLACE your “exposure” of me was.

Better yet, get fucked. You’re like a child, a precocious, and stubborn little child that thinks the world is only the way they see it.

@sarahsmurfette – I didn’t see anything demeaning about his comment. Everyone’s so quick to jump in with “OMG that’s amazing!” without ever stopping to think that it’s really not that big of a deal. It’s not like she can never go back and finish school. If that were actually the case, then it’d be different. But it’s not, so she’s really no better or worse than your average human being.

@sarahsmurfette@xanga - Thank you for sharing your opinions.

@Under_the_Ghillie@xanga -  Weakness during a crisis doesn’t make one a bitch – it makes one human. The ability to stand and give when you are still injured yourself – that makes a hero.

@Under_the_Ghillie@xanga - I’m pretty sure a child taking care of her siblings is a little different from dropping out of college to help a parent out.  She is GRIEVING.  She lost both her parents.  and yet you expect her to just “drop everything and be an adult” just because it’s the “thing to do”?  She’s STILL a child.  I know plenty of 19 year olds who are not emotionally capable enough to take care of other children while mourning the loss of both of their parents.  To say that she should do it just because it’s her responsibility is ridiculous. She’s still a child.  Yes, people have done it before.  And i’d say they’re just as much a hero as her. 

And why do you have to be a bully?  My point about why did you comment still is valid.  If this topic is so ludicrous to you–that she’s NOT a hero–then you shouldn’t have commented.  This post was very much about how the OP thinks she’s a hero and that was the point of this. 

@chronic_masticator@xanga - She’s still a child.  Stepping in to take care of other children.  Yes, it’s her family and yes, some might say it’s her responsibility.  But she’s 19.  She doesn’t have a stable job.  This wasn’t the same as a parent being sick and helping out.  Her entire support system is GONE.  So yes, in my opinion, this is heroic.  She’s still grieving too, for heaven’s sake.  BOTH PARENTS are gone.

@PassionFruit06@xanga - Why shouldn’t I have commented? Don’t just say it, support it. Give me a tangible reason that my disagreeing with the position of the post bars me from being able to comment.

Your position isn’t valid. If it is, then why are you continuing to comment to me, since you clearly don’t agree with my position? If I’m so wrong, why are you reading my comments, LET alone responding to them?

I’m not being a bully. I made a comment sharing my opinion on the post, and never said a word to anyone on the site. They approached, and insulted me. I defended myself. If that’s being a bully, then so be it.

@Under_the_Ghillie – I approached in defense of the grieving. I won’t stand quiet while you demean and diminish her path. You are using the debate tactic right now of distraction (so quit your story spinning) – the universal sign that you are done.

@sarahsmurfette@xanga You go ahead and give yourself a pat on the back, young lady. I mean, it must have been tiring to redefine my intent for me, and then attack it, in defense of someone who has no clue who you are, or that you exist, on a blog that is utterly inconsequential at the end of the day.

…some might even call it…heroic.

You deserve a cookie, too.

What the fuck is your obsession? I gave you exactly what you needed to GTFO a month ago, and you took the bait like a chump. So why are you still trying to engage me? Your “defense” was worthless, as I still don’t give a damn what you think, and you’ve just come off looking like a pretentious little busybody to anyone that’s not a fellow clucking hen.

Can we be done now?

@Under_the_Ghillie – watch you mouth! It shows you as weak. Cowards use foul language to hide or cover the truth, weakness.

@artichoke911@xanga -  Use correct grammar. It shows you as ignorant. Morons don’t know the difference between you, and your.
Also, get penetrated sexually. (well, you would have objected to my telling you to get fucked, right?)

That is a HUGE responsibility and undertaking. I applaud her for her efforts and wish her the absolute best. It’s not easy providing for a family…I only hope she knows for sure what she’s getting herself into. And hopefully she will have someone she can reach out to, family-wise.

She is a very brave girl, who will be tested to her limits.  I find it a bit premature for others to be donating sizable funds at this point.  She will qualify for social security benefits for each child, until a certain age, and that will give her some semblance of a cushion to work with.  Once they can establish a routine, for the pain will be with them always, they will be back in school, and perhaps she can be back in school, some place more local, to be home with them.  There are options out there that I think either an attorney or a seasoned social worker could help her with.

Having gone through a similar experience, I find the publication of this article pretty awful. I have every ounce of respect and sympathy for Zoe, and I don’t take offense to anything actually written in the post. However, it is disturbing to me to scroll through articles about “The Human Barbie” and “NSFW PETA ads” and find an article about such devastation, as if she, too, is something to ogle at. I am sure that Zoe and her siblings are striving to lead as normal a life as possible, not one exploited by the tabloid that lovelyish seems to be becoming. There is a place for heartfelt stories such as this one, and there was a time when this post would have been appropriate on this website. Despite my adoration for lovelyish, I fear that such a time has passed when we are honoring a young girl’s strength by throwing her in as a spectacle amongst history’s ugliest shoes and a girl singing into a turkey drumstick.

my single mom is the biggest hero of them all as far as I’m concerned. my aunt and uncles generation dropped out of school, got jobs and basically fended for themselves when they were young due to the infidelity of their dad that caused the separation of their family. stay strong!

cue Enrique Iglesias “Hero” song

This is stupid. As far as I’m concerned, anything less than taking responsibility for her siblings would have been a shitty thing to do. She’s certainly not the first, and certainly not the last.

@Under_the_Ghillie@xanga - You say:

“Why shouldn’t I have commented? Don’t just say it, support it. Give me a tangible reason that my disagreeing with the position of the post bars me from being able to comment.”

Your position is not what disqualifies you from the conversation.  I’ll show you where you disqualified yourself: when you said,“I’m sorry… If you think I read all of that.  My opinions are unique, in that I don’t need them to be approved by others.”

  (In other words, you feel that you get to talk but don’t have to listen.  What a fascinating but insular paradigm you hold to.)

Nobody has the right to air their opinions without getting to hear other opinions in return–it’s called dialogue.  When someone expresses disagreement with you, you don’t get to keep talking without listening in return.  Nor are you exempt from the mandates of rhetoric: Your dissenting opinion may be valid, but your expression of it was rude, abrasive, and as one-sided as a diode.

Sir, I hope that you stand and justify, not (only) your position, but your manner and your conduct–and that you apologize to the bloggers whom you have demeaned and insulted.  Else, I fear that when you post all I may hear is the flapping of wings and the cackle of “Bock, bock, bock, Bock-CAW!”

@OutOfTheAshes@xanga - Bock bock bock, get fucked, bockbacaw

“Your dissenting opinion may be valid, but your expression of it was rude, abrasive, and as one-sided as a diode”

Thank you!!

@VampireOfSeduction@xanga -  THIS

i hope people continue to support this girl and others like her. i can’t imagine having to support all of my siblings.