Kept at bay

How will a grieving family cope af ter loss?

THE sound of smashing glass startles a mum of four as she brushes her teeth before heading to bed. When she goes downstairs to investigate, she discovers her kitchen is on fire. ‘Get everybody out!’ she screams to her son.

As her kids congregate on the pavement, fire engines pull up, sirens blaring. But Mum is still inside the house. She’s trapped. And when the flames can’t be tamed in ITV1’s Morecambe-based crime drama The Bay, which returns on Monday (6 March), tragedy hits the Metcalf family.

While firefighters tackle the overpowering blaze, Detective Sergeant Jenn Townsend (Marsha Thomason) arrives on site and introduces herself to Dean Metcalf (Joe Armstrong), a family man who is clearly reeling from the shock of losing his wife so suddenly. He had spoken to her on the phone moments before she discovered the fire, and had raced home from work to witness his house burning and his wife screaming. Overcome with grief, he doesn’t know what to say to his kids.

Jenn offers to help where she can. As a family liaison officer, she informs the Metcalfs that she will arrange a safe place for them to spend the night and an armed guard for their protection.

‘We can’t rule out the possibility that this was a deliberate attack,’ she explains gravely.

Later, when Dean is talking with Jenn about the incident, he reveals that he has no idea who might have targeted the family – or even wanted his wife dead.

He doesn’t know what to say to his kids

‘We’re just an ordinary family,’ he says. ‘I can’t get my head around it.’

Nor can he get his head round the idea of raising four kids as a single parent. His wife did most of the childcare. She sorted out all the family and school appointments. Now that she is gone, Dean knows that he has no choice but to take some responsibility. Will he be able to cope?

‘That’s what his storyline is all about,’ says actor Joe Armstrong. ‘Not just about how he might cope but also about how he might develop in the process. How he might grow.’

Only time will tell what Dean’s approach will be. He could work to build stronger relationships with his children, helping the family to process their loss together or he could continue focusing solely on himself and turn away from their pain. The choice is his. But it’s not easy.

Choosing how we respond to difficult situations rarely is, especially when we feel utterly broken inside. But the choices we make in critical moments matter. And if we choose to go through life by putting our faith in God, asking him to guide us when all seems lost, then there’s no telling the ways in which we may develop. God can help us in ways we never imagined.

One Bible writer who lived through times of great hardship said that ‘those who trust in the Lord will find new strength’ (Isaiah 40:31 New Living Translation).

Though we can’t always change the bad things that happen in life, hope is not lost. God can bring healing to every broken heart and support us with his love through whatever lies ahead.