Jason’s journey nears end as his orphans’ begins

The messages sent via social media since the tragic story of Jack and Sarah Corbett emerged are no less poignant for their predictability.

Prayers are promised, sorrow expressed, encouragement offered, and there is much recognition of the love that is out there for two siblings whose young lives have known so much heartache.

Most is for the Corbett family but there are contributors from the US side and their messages are for Molly Martens, stepmother to the children and, in police terms, a ‘person of interest’ in the investigation into their father Jason’s death.

A cousin of Molly appeals for prayers for her, asking how it can be right that Jack and Sarah, having already lost so much, should be taken from the woman who has raised them since infancy, first as nanny and then as stepmother.

She writes: “Family is not blood. Family is not name. It’s love and faith and support. Family is kissing skinned knees and telling bedtime stories; it’s staying up all night tending to fevers and cheering from the sidelines. Family is Molly and Jack and Sarah.”

It is emotive stuff and it hints at the emotional turmoil ahead for the children and those who love them.

Jason Corbett and Molly Martens.

It is undeniable that the family awaiting them here want only to protect and care for them, to lavish affection on them and try their hardest to heal their hurts.

When strangers respond to their plight by holding candlelight vigils, signing petitions, and fundraising, the goodwill expressed and felt is almost tangible.

But it is equally hard to ignore the fact that to take the children from the US means they lose their mother figure, their school pals, the familiar sights and sounds of their home and neighbourhood, their year-round sunshine, even their little dog.

There will be a wrench, confusion, and adjustment issues beyond what a simple hug can cure. And that’s before the grief sets in — for the children have yet to bury their father or to begin to understand the manner or finality of his parting.

People in Limerick called their fundraising campaign ‘Jason’s Journey’, but while his remains have been brought home with their help, and his journey will end when his funeral can take place, the road to recovery and normality for his children is only beginning.

And then there will be harder to come, though it will be incumbent on all who care about Jack and Sarah to shield them from it.

The fundraising campaign is called ‘Jason’s Journey’ — but the road to recovery for his children is only beginning.

It is likely that if Molly Martens or her father, who is also a person of interest, or both of them, are charged in connection with Jason’s death, or if the custody proceedings become protracted, allegations will be made about Jason Corbett that will be desperately hard for his family to hear.

It is already known there were strains in his marriage, that behind the smiles in the photos there was a homesick father pulled emotionally in the direction of Ireland and an anxious wife uncertain about the future of her readymade family or her role within it.

In any case or defence launched by the Martens, those pressures will be elaborated upon and claims made that will question reputations and threaten precious memories.

Molly Martens has already begun to reprioritise her memories.

Her Facebook page, which was fronted by a photograph of herself with Jason, was changed on Thursday. It now features just the children, smiling in the sunshine.

There is another sun-kissed photograph on a relative’s site taken, presumably by Jason, when the family visited Washington.

Jason Corbett with his children

Molly stands with Jack to one side of her and Sarah to the other, in front of the John F Kennedy memorial at Arlington Cemetery.

Behind them you can just make out the inscription on the stonework, taken from JFK’s inaugural address.

It reads: “With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God’s work must truly be our own.”

In the tragic tale of Jack and Sarah Corbett, the hope must be that history comes quickly, that deeds are judged fairly and that they can get on with their future in a land they love, whichever side of the Atlantic that turns out to be.