THE SIMPSON MURDER CASE : Together, Nicole Simpson’s Family Faces Pain, Begins Healing

The family of Nicole Brown Simpson said Saturday that her young children are demonstrating “the uncanny ability to momentarily set aside life’s bitterness to enjoy life’s goodness” and are coping well with the tragedies of the past week.

In an eloquent statement, the Brown family described the children’s efforts to deal with their mother’s death and the family’s attempts to begin recovering from the bizarre series of events that started with the slaying and ended with the arrest of O.J. Simpson.

“By no means are things ‘normal,’ so to speak, but with the immense love and support we are all receiving from each other, we will all survive stronger in spirit, stronger as people, and stronger as a family,” said the statement, which also was signed by Jason and Arnelle Simpson, O.J. Simpson’s children by his first marriage.

Sydney and Justin Simpson, ages 9 and 6, have spent the last few days at their grandparents’ home in Monarch Bay following as normal a routine as possible, riding bikes, fishing, going to the beach and playing handball, POGs and video games with their cousins and friends.

But they have also been counseled by a family priest. “We talked about where Mom had gone and they asked me some things about heaven and I tried to answer them,” said Father Bruce Lavery, who officiated during Nicole Simpson’s service Thursday at Ascension Cemetery in Lake Forest.

“The children were very, very aware that something had happened, but they acted like any children: They would be solemn for a while and then start playing a game or playing with their toys again.”

For the Brown family--which started the week with the news that Nicole Simpson had been brutally stabbed to death and that her ex-husband was the chief suspect, then made it through her memorial service, her burial and Friday’s wild events--the past few days have taken their toll.

“We’re hanging in there. We’re doing OK,” said Denise Brown, Nicole Simpson’s older sister, on Saturday. The week had been devastating, she said, “but we have to try to keep our spirits up. We have to keep going because of the children.”

In fact, the presence of Sydney and Justin has helped comfort their relatives in the bleakest of moments.

“In the cold darkness of the night, our beloved Nicole was taken from us, but even from this black void of despair, there have been two bright lights of hope, peace and laughter,” the family wrote. “Our Nicole has left us two beautiful children who have touched us deeply within, helping us to heal our wounds of grief and depression.”

Family members are in seclusion in their gated Monarch Bay community and neighbors are fiercely protective of their privacy. The television is disconnected at times, Lavery said, apparently to protect the children from hearing news reports about their mother and father.

But the Brown family has been thrust into the spotlight. Those who know them best say their closeness, their faith and their fond memories of Nicole are helping to pull them through.

“This is the true shattering of the American dream,” said Joseph W. Smith, a real estate agent in Monarch Bay who has known the Browns for years. “It’s a tragedy for a great family, a great athlete and a great athlete’s family. We live down here in Monarch Bay and we think we’re in God’s country, but tragedy can strike anywhere.”

In many ways, the Browns did live the American dream, raising a devoted and close-knit family in one of the country’s seaside garden spots, giving them the best of everything and watching as one of their daughters married one of the nation’s most popular athletes.

Louis Brown, 70, is a semi-retired real estate investor who once ran O.J. Simpson’s Hertz Rent a Car franchise at the the Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel. German-born Juditha, 63, was a full-time mother, raising Denise, now 36, Nicole, Dominique, 29, and Tanya, 24. They have an older brother named Rolf, 45.

Nicole Brown was born in Frankfurt, Germany, on May 19, 1959, and grew up in the Garden Grove neighborhood of Royal Park Estates. The two eldest girls attended Rancho Alamitos High School, and both studied German. By the mid-1970s, the family had moved to Monarch Bay in Dana Point, where the teen-agers attended Dana Hills High School.

Lavery, who has counted the Browns among his congregation for many years, said the family was “coping pretty well.”

“They’re the type of people who rally at a time like this,” he said. “They’re very close-knit. They’re drawing a lot of support from each other right now.”

The priest visited the Browns’ home Wednesday, he said, when he was asked to counsel the Simpson children and those of other family members while the adults attended a viewing of Nicole Simpson’s body at a Laguna Hills funeral home.

Lavery said he gathered the six children around him on the floor, talking to them about God, about death and about the funeral and burial services that would be held the next day.

Al Cowlings, the longtime friend of O.J. Simpson’s who acted as his driver during Friday’s freeway odyssey, stayed at the Brown home with the children to allow the others, including O.J. Simpson, to attend the viewing, Lavery said.

After the counseling session, Cowlings and the children were planning to head to the video store to rent some movies.

Lavery said the children--particularly Sydney, whom he described as a “little mother”--were trying to comfort each other. “They’re supporting each other, just as the adults are,” he said.

In their statement, family members emphasized the efforts they have taken to protect the children.

“God in his grace has given these children, as he does all children, the uncanny ability to momentarily set aside life’s bitterness to enjoy life’s goodness,” they wrote.

“Although aware of their mother’s passing, they have been surrounded by caring, nurturing family members and friends who have provided an environment which has enabled the healing to begin.”

The Browns also thanked the public for concern and prayers in recent days.

Joseph O’Connor, a longtime friend of the Browns and Laguna Hills funeral director who made the arrangements for the services, said he still cannot believe the circumstances of the past six days. “The situation is just so overwhelming at this point that all you can do is put it in God’s hands.”

Times staff writers Leslie Berkman, Rene Lynch, Jeff Brazil and Michael Granberry contributed to this report.