This is going to be a different type of blog today. A while back i bought the Daughtry Cd cuz I liked some of the songs he had released. I listened to the whole CD and heard a song that really touched me in so many ways. Every time I listen to it, I get chills and even sometimes cry. It gets to me because of what the song is about. I am going to list the words to the song and then tell you some stories about my life so you can understand why this song touches me so much.
"All These Lives"
Doesn't come down when she calls, "It's time for breakfast."
Momma can't get down those halls Fast enough to see
Glass is sprayed across the floor From the broken window.
She can't breathe anymore. Can't deny what we know.
They're gonna find you, just believe. You're not a person; you're a disease.
All these lives that you've been taking, Deep inside, my heart is breaking.
Broken homes from separation. Don't you know it's violation?
It's so wrong, but you'll see. Never gonna let you take my world from me.
The world outside these walls may know you're breathing, But you ain't comin' in.
You ain't comin' in.
Posters hung on building walls Of missing faces.
Months go by without the calls, no clues, or traces. They're gonna find you, just believe. You're not a person; you're a disease.
All these lives that you've been taking, Deep inside, my heart is breaking.
Broken homes from separation. Don't you know it's violation?
It's so wrong, but you'll see. Never gonna let you take my world from me.
The world outside these walls may know you're breathing, But you ain't comin' in.
Shed the light on all the ones who never thought they would become
A father, mother asking why this world can be so cold.
Doesn't come down when she calls, "It's time for breakfast."
The memories begin to fall. She asks, "When will I be free?"
All these lives that you've been taking, Deep inside, my heart is breaking.
Broken homes from separation. Don't you know it's violation?
It's so wrong, but you'll see. Never gonna let you take my world from me.
The world outside these walls may know you're breathing, But you ain't comin' in.
All these lives that you've been taking, Deep inside, my heart is breaking.
All these lives that you've been taking, Deep inside, my heart is breaking.
All these lives that you've been taking, Deep inside, my heart is breaking.
The world outside these walls may know you're breathing,
The world outside these walls may know you're breathing,
But you ain't comin' in.
This song really hit home for me because I know of 3 children whom were taken from their families, and this world when I was a Junior in Highschool. 2 young boys who were so sweet and trusting and loved by so many people in our small Navy Housing community disappeared on March 4th 1991. The community and local police department and the shore patrol for our housing area looked all over the area and the woods near us for them... unfortunately they were found dead. Daniel 9 years old and Christopher 7 years old. Days later the suspect was caught... a friend to many of the kids in the neighborhood, including me, a teenage boy of just 16years had done it. The day he was arrested we got more tragic news, a senior at the highschool I went to, a great guy with so much life in him, was found murdered, his car stolen by some drifter. My highschool was a very somber place to be as we all tried to deal with the 2 tragedies that had happend so close together. Guidances counslors would call us into the office to consol us, but even that didnt really help. When my father found got new orders for him to relocate to Florida, my mother and him were happy cuz it would get me away from what happend, because even though my friend had confessed, i still didnt want to believe it... i didnt want to believe that someone i trusted and cared about was cappable of something so horrible.
There are so many children out there who are abducted every year, some thank God are found and returned home safe. But many others are not so lucky. They are still missing, and sadly some may even be dead. We need to do whatever we can to protect our children and loved ones. I grew up in the 80s and it was during the early 80s that my mother instilled the fear of God in me and my brother and sister about making sure we kept safe. How did she do it? One name- Adam Walsh. She told us about how he had been kidnapped in a department store and had been found dead. That was all she told us, she never went into the details of how he had died. Of that i am thankfull, because i would have had nightmares the rest of my childhood. It wasnt until I was a teenager that I foumd out how he had died and what had been done to him. I thanked my mother for teaching us to be safe. When we went to grocrie stores, we were never let out of her sight and had to hold onto the shopping cart at all times, if we let go, she would smack our hands and warn us, You dont want someone to come and grab you do you...now dont let go! Grant it, people cant smack their kids in public now cuz it is considered abuse (please , some kids need a good spanking) but it worked. She taught us several things growing up that came in handy
1. Never talk to strangers 2. Never get into a car with strangers, even if they offer candy or a dog or cat, or ask you to help them look for a dog or cat. 3. If someone tries to grab you yell NO! then GO run and TELL - cry out for help. 4. Never walk alone, always have a buddy (the Buddy system) 5. Keep a quarter in your shoes at all times in case of an emergency. (we actually had the shoes that had flaps to hold money...penny loafers I think is what they were called) but that was also way way before cell phones. 6. If anyone touches you in a way that is inappropriate, tell her immediately. 7. Never open the door. that was her job she said.
She drilled these rules into our head constantly, and I am so glad she did, because when i was in the 7th grade, those rules came in handy. A friend of mine and me were walking home from school when a guy pulled up to the curb of the sidewalk we were on. He asked us for directions. I grabbed my friends hand as she started walking toward his car to tell him and pulled her back toward me. She realized what i was doing and stood next to me and we told him the 2 streets to drive down to get to the road he wanted. He then said he didnt understand our directions and would we get in his truck and show him? I said no, im not allowed to get into cars with strangers and my friend and I started walking away, heading to the gas station at the end of the hill, where the gas attendents knew so many of us from stopping there on the way home everyday for candy bars or chips. We knew it as a safe haven we could get help at. THe guy started to follow us, still asking us to get into his vehicle. We started to quicken our pace ,and then started running when we saw he was trying to keep pace with us still. We started calling out for help to whomever could hear us, as there were more kids in front of and behind us, also walking home... but ahead of us, just a little further down the hill, our cries for help were heard... by several adults that were walking their children home from school. They came running and the guy in the car took off. I was safe because I had listened to my mother. Others have not been so lucky.
This world is not as it was when I was young. So many parents nowadays arent teaching their kids how to stay safe, or are to busy to do so. When I was young , we had the Latchkey Kids... most of them went straight home after school, calledtheir mother of father to let them know they were safe and didnt leave the house to play until one of their parents came home. Nowadays, it seems like they go whereever they want without any regard to their own safety... and that is so sad. I have seen many a parent drop their young children off at the mall while they drive off and take care of whatever it is they have to do. They seem to feel that Mall Security and the hundreds of mall employees whom are busy with the job they are getting paid to do, should also watch their kids and play babysitter. (sad to say that is exactly what one mom told me when i asked her why her 10 year old chld was hanging out at the store i worked at for over 2 hours without her around... she had dropped him off and told him she would pick him up at my store at a certain time and to wait there.) When I was growing up, neighbors helped to protect us too. There was not a person on our block that we didnt know. Today, I think most of us dont know who our neighbors are. I used to be so annoyed with some of the other moms in the neighborhood who would rat out my brother and I if we did something wrong. But I realize now, they werent doing it to get us in trouble, they were doing it for the same reason my mom did it to the kids in the neighborhood... to keeps us safe, teach us right from wrong. Groweing up my mother knew where all 3 of us kids were at all times. (used to think she was psychic until i found out it was the other mothers ratting us out...LOL ) I love her for it now.
We need to change the way we think. Instead of letting the youth of today take care of themselves, we need to do as our mothers and fathers did and protect our children. Make sure they are safe. We also need to stop thinking "that will never happen to my child" because it can.
One of the reasons I decided to write this blog today is because I wanted to bring Childrens safety to everyones minds. But I also want to bring up some other issues... Children are missing right now, We have all seen the posters in the grocery stores and the main walls as you first walk into Walmart, yet, we dont really look at them. For goodness sake, take a moment or two out of your life and LOOK closely at those posters.. you may actually know one of those children. You might end up being the key to them being found and getting back home, to end their families suffering. We also need to try and do what we can to help the organizations that are out there trying to find these kids. They use donated money to print out those posters we see, and to put out the Amber Alerts and to do all they can to find these kids.
I am asking anyone who reads this to let their hearts be touched, and to do what they can to help. If you want to tell others about this blog, thats fine, if you want to repost it, thats fine too... but I'm hoping you will do more than that. Lets do what we can to bring these children home and help put and end to this epidemic.
Wanda Lee
This blog is dedicated to the following children and their familes:
David Paul Ross (died 3/1991) Daniel Geir (3/5/1991) Christopher Scot Weaver (3/5/1991) Adam Walsh, Amber Hagerman, and Polly Klaas
Polly Klass Foundation: www.pollyklaas.org
National center for missing and exploited children: www.missingkids.com
Americas Most Wanted www.amw.com
