Take Your Children With You

                                        Photo Courtesy of Hong Nguyen 





What does this picture say to you?  A thousand words come to
my mind, but what it really speaks to me is Take Your Children With You.  All it takes
is a split second for someone to snatch your child.  Is this picture real enough
for you?  
I’m so thankful this precious baby was found safe after being
left under a bush along a Houston road by a carjacker.  I can only image the horror this poor mother felt, when she saw her car being driven away with her 8 month old baby in the back seat. 



Now that I know the baby is safe, I have to ask what the
mother was thinking leaving the baby alone in the car at a gas station.  She stepped inside to pay for gas, and when she looked out the window she saw her car being driven away.  Now I’m
not excusing the carjacker’s crime, a criminal is a criminal.  Let’s just put
him behind bars where he belongs when he is caught.  Better yet, let’s chain him to the bush where he
left the baby and just leave him there for a while.  Let’s see how he likes it.  Can you imagine the things that could have happened to this child just being left under a bush along a road?  Luckily, a jogger heard her crying, when to look for her and than called the police.  An Amber Alert had been issued.  

How many times have we watched television and shed tears
for a mother who left her child in the car for a moment and they vanished.  How
many times have we seen mothers crying because they only turned their back for a
second and their child just disappeared?  How many times has it been said, don’t
leave your child/children alone in the car?  When when we learn?  

Why do we think child snatching only happens to other
people?  We’re always the exceptions aren’t we?  People are proven wrong day
after day.  To a point where I had to stop watching Nancy Grace who is an
advocate for children.  Nancy comes locked and loaded, but I just couldn’t
stomach all the stories about children disappearing or being abused night after
night.  I admire her tenacity and the fact that she is an advocate for children,
but her show just became too much.  Now that I’m thinking about it, maybe watching her show for about a month should be a requirement for all parents.  I
guarantee you will walk away believing that it is unsafe to leave your child
alone in a car in a public area for even a second. 

We must be aware of our surroundings at all times and we must
never make the mistake of leaving our children alone in the open for a second. 
The world has changed people, and if you don’t take heed you will find yourself
a victim of the heartless, senseless, criminals that prey on the naive and
unsuspecting.  They stand behind you in
the grocery store line, they hold doors open for you, and they wait until you
let your guard and they spring on you.  There’s no profile for them, but there
is one for us.  We see the world through rose colored glasses and we will
eventually leave the door open for a crime to be committed because we’re naive and unsuspecting. 

Yep, we want to believe that the United States of America is
still standing on a foundation of honesty, goodwill, peace and love. 
We still believe that a hand shake and our word will bond us or simply a smile. It’s a different world in which we we live people and we need to wake up.  We ask who would harm an innocent child?  There are many, who would harm your child in a blink of an eye.  



I’m sure the carjacking and her missing baby will haunt this mother forever, but I pray that she can find peace now.   

In Memory of Caylee Anthony

I’m sure everyone has heard Caylee Marie Anthony has been declared dead. I’ve been following this story on CNN for the past few months and I must say that it has truly touched me. I can’t imagine how Caylee’s grandparents are feeling at this time. Making it through this tragedy will be an enormous task. The fact that their daughter, Caylee’s mom, is being held for her murder is a double blow.

I look at this little girl, and I have asked over and over how anyone could harm such a precious child. Any child for that matter. When I see pictures of this beautiful little girl my heart breaks. I squeeze Xavier, my grandson, so much more these days.

I know that in this country people are presumed innocent until proven guilty, but if Casey Anthony did murder this beautiful little girl, her own daughter, I wonder what would make her loose all sense of right or wrong. Motherhood is so sacred. I’ve thought about my own daughter and my grandson. I wonder what I would do or how I would feel if I received a phone call and someone told me that my daughter was being held for killing her son. I just can’t get that far in my thinking. I could never fathom that someone I gave birth to could take her own child’s life.

My thoughts and prayers are with this family this holiday season. I’m so looking forward to seeing my grandson Christmas morning. I feel so bad that they will never see Caylee Marie again. From one grandparent to another, I pray that they be given the strength, insight and endurance they will need to move forward. Would love to hear your thoughts on this child murder.