"It is the spirit and not the form of law that keeps justice alive." ~Earl Warren
Like so many others, my mind has been continuously filled with swirling thoughts of the Casey Anthony trial for months now. Images of her in the courtroom and words from testimony have filled all of our living rooms and news feeds. Our hearts have been filled with sorrow for that precious little angel, Caylee, and the reading of the verdict on July 5 left a void in so many of our hearts.
So many questions remained unanswered. This story has shaken us to our core and as parents, grandparents and decent human beings, we cannot understand how a jury of seven women and five men could listen to the given testimony and find Casey Anthony not guilty of committing this heinous crime.
Beyond a reasonable doubt...four little words that when put together have big consequences. So, did the verdict in this trial demonstrate a flaw in our justice system?
Perhaps so, but quite frankly, I am tired of hearing about it. Let me go one step further and say that I am tired of everyone screaming "justice for Caylee!" There I said it. I am just simply tired of hearing it. It is no secret that the words "moral" and "legal" have never been synonymous.
There is no amount of justice in this world that would give Caylee Anthony another day on this Earth. If we had heard the words "guilty" on July 5th, we would still wonder if Caylee knew that she was being taken from this world by the very person who brought her into it only a couple of years before....the woman she loved with every fiber of her little body.
There is no amount of justice in this world that would give Caylee Anthony another day on this Earth. If we had heard the words "guilty" on July 5th, we would still wonder if Caylee knew that she was being taken from this world by the very person who brought her into it only a couple of years before....the woman she loved with every fiber of her little body.
Now don't get me wrong....I am in no way tired of hearing about Caylee Anthony. I am simply tired of hearing about the verdict in the trial, and I think that we should do the same thing that Casey Anthony is doing...move on. God knows that we have grieved for this precious little girl whom we have never even met, and we will continue to do so. I have a child that is the same age that Caylee was when she was killed and when I look into his innocent eyes there is simply no way that I can wrap my mind around what happened to Caylee, nor will I ever be able to. Yet the last stage of grief, according to the Kubler-Ross Model, is acceptance.
Of course I wish that Casey Anthony would open her eyes and see the dingy ceiling of a prison every morning for the rest of her miserable life, but guess what...she won't. Although we do not agree with the verdict, we must accept that it IS the verdict and look at where we go from here. We can continue on this tirade about justice or we can vow to always remember and honor the precious life that Caylee Marie Anthony lived. I choose the latter.
Unfortunately, we do not have the power to bring Caylee Anthony back, nor do we have the power to put Casey Anthony in jail. However, we do have the power to potentially save another child's life who is in danger, and I personally cannot think of a better way to honor Caylee's life than that.
According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, an estimated 800,000 children are reported missing each year – more than 2,000 children every day. I wish that I could say this statistic does not surprise me as much as it does, but I would be lying. I had no idea that such a high number of children were reported missing each and every year in our country. Those are OUR children and as a society, whether we like it or not, we have a responsibility to them. Many of them come from families who miss them dearly each day and will never stop looking for them. Many have mothers who, like Casey Anthony, feel they are a burden to them. Yet, both groups equally need and deserve our care.
Until I started thinking about what I could do to fill the void in my heart left by the verdict of the trial, I had never visited the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's website. I am sure I am not the only one who doesn't frequent the site, but doing so is a great way to honor Caylee's memory, in my opinion. Take a few minutes and go to http://www.missingkids.com/ and look at posters of the missing children. Sign up for text messages of AMBER alerts and emails of missing children in your area. You could be the person who sees a child at the Chevron this afternoon, recognizes them from a poster and returns them safely to their family. If you think that you don't have time to do these things, then simply give a tax-deductible donation to support the organization's program services. Just do something to help.
In my previous life, I was Policy Analyst/Communications Director/Director of the Alabama Kids Count program for Voices for Alabama's Children, a state-wide children's non-profit organization. Each year, the Alabama Kids Count program issued a report detailing the well-being of Alabama's children. Each and every year Alabama ranked in the bottom 3 in the nation. There are many reasons for this, but there are equally as many ways to make a dent in these statistics. When it is time to renew your car tag, purchase an Alabama Department of Child Abuse & Neglect Prevention-Children's Trust Fund specialty tag. It is tax-deductible and 92% goes to fund community based prevention programs. Spend a couple hours volunteering with your local child advocacy center. It will bless you as much, if not more, than them.
In my opinion, these are all great ways to make a difference and potentially save the lives of many children just like Caylee that are right outside our front doors. However, there is one thing in particular that I could not get off of my mind, which led to a promise to myself of one thing that I will personally do to honor the short-lived life of sweet Caylee...
First of all, I mentioned earlier that it is impossible for most of us to wrap our minds around a mother willfully and purposefully killing her own child. As a mother, I live in constant fear of something happening to one of my own children, but causing them harm at my own hand is completely unimaginable. Although I know without a shadow of a doubt that I will never physically harm one of my own children, I cannot guarantee that someone else won't, and this scares the hell out of me.
Maybe it is simply human nature as a mother or maybe I go a tad overboard with my psychotic need to prevent my children from being harmed, but each time my t.v. lights up with news of another innocent child that is missing (or a victim of any crime) like Caylee, I cannot stop my mind from imagining the "what if"s. What if this was my child? What if I had to spend minutes, much less weeks, months and years, wondering if my child was suffering? What if I am not taking every precaution within my power to prevent something like this from happening to my own child? What if I woke up in the morning to an empty crib...what would I do?
The last question really got me thinking. So, I started doing some research and thought I would share with you other psychotic, over-protective, wish I could put my child in a bubble kind of moms like myself. Seriously though, I believe that you can never be too prepared or too informed when it comes to ensuring your child's well-being.
One of many things I learned through this research is that the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's website has some excellent resources on teaching your child about safety, as well as publications regarding what to do if your child is missing.
Naively, I thought I was pretty well-informed on the latter topic and had no idea how little I actually knew. However, I can honestly tell you that I feel like a MUCH better parent after reading When Your Child is Missing, a publication of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention that is available for download on http://www.missingkids.com/. I will also be preparing a Child ID kit (as described on the website) for both of my kiddos. By the way, I am in no way being paid for my continuous shout-outs to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, but they are seriously a phenomenal organization with invaluable resources, and I wanted to share some of what I had learned with those of you who are as uninformed as my previously naive self.
So this evening, Casey Anthony may have her "freedom", but there is one mama in this 'ole world who will sleep a little easier tonight knowing that she has taken one extra step to protect her own children from harm, as well help other children like little Caylee, who is so deserving of everlasting love. No, this does not mean that Caylee will see another sunrise through innocent eyes or that Casey will see another sunset through metal bars, but it does mean that this mama will wake up tomorrow morning with four insanely beautiful eyes staring lovingly back at me, and for that I am beyond blessed.
Until I started thinking about what I could do to fill the void in my heart left by the verdict of the trial, I had never visited the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's website. I am sure I am not the only one who doesn't frequent the site, but doing so is a great way to honor Caylee's memory, in my opinion. Take a few minutes and go to http://www.missingkids.com/ and look at posters of the missing children. Sign up for text messages of AMBER alerts and emails of missing children in your area. You could be the person who sees a child at the Chevron this afternoon, recognizes them from a poster and returns them safely to their family. If you think that you don't have time to do these things, then simply give a tax-deductible donation to support the organization's program services. Just do something to help.
In my previous life, I was Policy Analyst/Communications Director/Director of the Alabama Kids Count program for Voices for Alabama's Children, a state-wide children's non-profit organization. Each year, the Alabama Kids Count program issued a report detailing the well-being of Alabama's children. Each and every year Alabama ranked in the bottom 3 in the nation. There are many reasons for this, but there are equally as many ways to make a dent in these statistics. When it is time to renew your car tag, purchase an Alabama Department of Child Abuse & Neglect Prevention-Children's Trust Fund specialty tag. It is tax-deductible and 92% goes to fund community based prevention programs. Spend a couple hours volunteering with your local child advocacy center. It will bless you as much, if not more, than them.
In my opinion, these are all great ways to make a difference and potentially save the lives of many children just like Caylee that are right outside our front doors. However, there is one thing in particular that I could not get off of my mind, which led to a promise to myself of one thing that I will personally do to honor the short-lived life of sweet Caylee...
First of all, I mentioned earlier that it is impossible for most of us to wrap our minds around a mother willfully and purposefully killing her own child. As a mother, I live in constant fear of something happening to one of my own children, but causing them harm at my own hand is completely unimaginable. Although I know without a shadow of a doubt that I will never physically harm one of my own children, I cannot guarantee that someone else won't, and this scares the hell out of me.
Maybe it is simply human nature as a mother or maybe I go a tad overboard with my psychotic need to prevent my children from being harmed, but each time my t.v. lights up with news of another innocent child that is missing (or a victim of any crime) like Caylee, I cannot stop my mind from imagining the "what if"s. What if this was my child? What if I had to spend minutes, much less weeks, months and years, wondering if my child was suffering? What if I am not taking every precaution within my power to prevent something like this from happening to my own child? What if I woke up in the morning to an empty crib...what would I do?
The last question really got me thinking. So, I started doing some research and thought I would share with you other psychotic, over-protective, wish I could put my child in a bubble kind of moms like myself. Seriously though, I believe that you can never be too prepared or too informed when it comes to ensuring your child's well-being.
One of many things I learned through this research is that the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's website has some excellent resources on teaching your child about safety, as well as publications regarding what to do if your child is missing.
Naively, I thought I was pretty well-informed on the latter topic and had no idea how little I actually knew. However, I can honestly tell you that I feel like a MUCH better parent after reading When Your Child is Missing, a publication of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention that is available for download on http://www.missingkids.com/. I will also be preparing a Child ID kit (as described on the website) for both of my kiddos. By the way, I am in no way being paid for my continuous shout-outs to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, but they are seriously a phenomenal organization with invaluable resources, and I wanted to share some of what I had learned with those of you who are as uninformed as my previously naive self.
So this evening, Casey Anthony may have her "freedom", but there is one mama in this 'ole world who will sleep a little easier tonight knowing that she has taken one extra step to protect her own children from harm, as well help other children like little Caylee, who is so deserving of everlasting love. No, this does not mean that Caylee will see another sunrise through innocent eyes or that Casey will see another sunset through metal bars, but it does mean that this mama will wake up tomorrow morning with four insanely beautiful eyes staring lovingly back at me, and for that I am beyond blessed.
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