The Incredible Power of Forgiveness: Parents Forgive their Daughter's Killer

Aimee Herd : Jan 8, 2013
Staff – TODAY Show

"I really felt like my daughter was joined with Christ, and that He and her were asking me to forgive and I just had never said no before to them, so I wasn't going to say no this time." -Andy Grosmaire

In a powerful display of how forgiveness can bring healing where you'd think all was lost, the TODAY Show recently featured the story of the parents of Ann Margaret Grosmaire and Conor McBride.

After being together for some time—even engaged—19-year-old Conor McBride shot and killed his girlfriend Ann after an argument that had lasted a couple days.

Soon after shooting Ann, Conor had voluntarily given himself up at a Tallahassee police station, confessing to the crime and asking to be arrested.

After being charged with First Degree Murder, Ann's parents—who had grown close to Conor's parents—chose to pursue a different approach rather than life in prison for Conor.

Drawing on their faith, they chose to forgive, putting into action a process known as "restorative justice," where both sets of parents, and the offender, sit together and talk things out.

The families—using the unique process—asked for just 15 years in prison; Conor received twenty.

Calling it "radical forgiveness," TODAY Show host Savannah Guthrie interviewed both couples about what it took to come together and forgive. She asked Ann's father how he came to the decision even while his daughter was still on life support.

"It's a process . . . that week . . . I felt like my daughter was asking us to forgive Conor, and I told her I couldn't," explained Andy Grosmaire. "But at the end I said, 'I'll try.' Then later on in that week . . . I really felt like my daughter was joined with Christ, and that He and her were asking me to forgive and I just had never said no before to them, so I wasn't going to say no this time. It was just an uplifting [experience] of joy and peace."

Watch the video at the source link provided.