Hopefully closing a chapter

Today was sentencing for the guy who held Rebecca up.  He will be going away for 20 years, and the DA says that he probably won't even be eligible for parole for 15 years.  By that time, two of our kids will be adults, and the youngest will be driving...that's a long time, and it's an amount of time that's difficult to comprehend when put into those terms.
I was very proud of Rebecca.  Even though this guy has changed her life so dramatically, she still found the courage to actually stand up in front of everyone in the courtroom, and tell him exactly what was on her mind.
This is what she had to say:
January 31st changed my life.  I was just doing my job to pay my bills and to take care of my three kids, when he walked in and pulled out a gun and robbed me.
Now I find it very hard to trust anyone, and all of my relationships with family, friends, and my husband have suffered as a result of this crime.  I can't cope with my life the way I used to, and I am trying to get back on track and deal with things the best that I can.  He took so much from me, and now I'm struggling to trust people again.  It's been almost nine months, and I'm still having anxiety attacks and I panic when I see people that look similar to him, or people who are in hats or hoodies.  It's going to take a while before I am myself again, and before I can see the world the way I used to.
I hope he sees how wrong he was, and I hope he wants to change.  He still has many years of his life in front of him, and it's my hope that he ends up being a better person.  I haven't forgiven him for hurting me, but one day I hope to.  I need to be able to move on.

After she'd expressed herself, he talked quietly to his attorney, and through the exchange, I could hear him saying that he wanted to say something.  Finally, he did actually say that he was sorry, and he was working to change his life.  Apparently he took to a life of crime because he'd gotten heavily into drugs.  It's not a valid excuse, but at least we now know why he did it.
As they were leading him away, he was crying.  Maybe he will change, but only time will tell...