When you have a child in Wilton, it’s hard not to feel something very strong about .
Because Nick Parisot was Wilton’s child.
At least, that’s what I think we should think of him as.
We should all take a look at this case, and take a closer look at ourselves, and readjust the axis of how we view it.
Nick Parisot is Wilton’s child.
What happened to Nick has been extensively . Nick Parisot was a 13-year old-boy from Wilton, just 15 days shy of his next birthday, when he was killed while riding his motor bike along trails behind Nod Hill. Nick died when he hit a rope that had been strung across the path on which he was riding. No formal criminal charges have been filed and no arrest has been made, though officials that they have a suspect.
The third anniversary of Nick's death is today.
There are children at all points of this narrative: Nick, the victim at the center of this unresolved homicide; the child to have been responsible for what happened; and, according a letter from Nick's mom that appeared in The Wilton Villager, other children who may know more information about what happened to Nick that day.
That the key figures in this tragedy are children makes the perspective of parents looking in at this all that much more complicated.
I have a son, who was born several years after Nick, but he strikes me as someone very similar to who Nick was.
My son has shaggy blonde hair, just like Nick did. He’s a spirited, independent boy, just like I’ve read that Nick was. He likes to build things and explore, just as I’ve come to learn Nick did as well.
It’s easy for me to see my family in their place and relate to the anguish Nick’s parents will always feel. We all have children that live, learn and play in this town, and as much as you may not like to, you too can likely imagine what it must feel like to be Nick’s parents.
My heart bleeds and grieves for them and their loss. I want to be part of the effort that helps them have some sort of conclusion and closure to what must be an insurmountable, unbreachable rift in the fabric of their world.
I don’t know Nick’s parents, but I’ve read recent news reports and letters that Nick’s mom has written, asking for more openness and honesty and truth from people who know more about what happened to Nick on his last day.
I can also imagine what it must feel like to be the parent of a child believed to be the one who caused another child’s death. I imagine the desire to protect your child from the repercussions that would likely follow. I try to play it out in my mind about my system of morality, and what I would hopefully do in teaching him what is right and what is wrong and how to take responsibility.
And I try to imagine what it would be like to parent a child who knows more about such events, and who could shed more light on solving the crime. I know it’s a tough position to be in, but again, if it were me I think there’s something important about doing the right thing, and teaching your child that lasting lesson.
I have to offer some disclosure: I don’t know any of the people at the center of this horrible moment. I’ve never met Nick’s parents, but I feel I have some license to write about the case publicly because I’ve read published letters they’ve written in the last three years—most recently in the last week—asking the people of Wilton to urge officials to push harder in resolving the case.
I don’t know any of the families who are said to have played other roles. I don’t know the family of the boy purported to have committed the act, nor do I know who the families are that may have more information.
I just know the tragedy it is for all of them, most of all for Nick.
It’s curious that we are a town of two Nicks. One Nick, a war hero the town pays tribute to in many ways and honors with ongoing charitable efforts. is Wilton’s son.
We need to see the other Nick as Wilton’s son as well. Nick Parisot deserves our care, tribute and honor—and he deserves resolution.
Three years ago today was a stark, dark day for Wilton. It’s a day we all lost a child of ours.
There will be a memorial for Nick Parisot on Monday evening, at 8 p.m. It will be held at Millstone farm at the cairn on the corner of Millstone Rd. and Tito Ln.
[Editor's Note: Language in this article has been updated to reflect accurately the legal status of the act described therein.]
