REMEMBER, IT COULD BE YOU

I stumbled upon this beautiful
commentary by Elisa Waldron

Natalee Holloway was an 18 year old honor student with a scholarship to the University of Alabama waiting for her when she disappeared on May 30, 2005. She was enjoying the paradise that is Aruba with her senior class when she walked out of a bar one night and into international headlines.


I have been watching this mystery through the eyes of a parent; I have two teenagers. I am easily able to feel a sense of horror, loss, fear and disbelief at that thought of a missing child. We like to believe that we can protect our children from harm. We have to believe that once our children leave our care the teachers, the other parents, the bus drivers, the religious leaders, the law enforcement officials…EVERYBODY is looking out for them. To be able to let our children grow up, to be able to confidently wave goodbye and maybe even tell our children “it will be okay”, we have to let go of our own fears and trust in God and all the other people on the planet.


The sad truth is that all the other people on the planet are not trustworthy. They do not all have the same goals or the same ideas of honesty and they certainly do not all love our children the way we do.




I admire Beth Twitty so much. I really do. As Natalee’s mother it was she who kept her face and Natalee’s name in the news, in the headlines, at the water cooler. It was she who kept pressing the Aruba officials to, for God’s sake, do something. She was forced to trust what was being done, that it was being done correctly and that because a judge was involved that it wasn’t “Oh, it’s you, Judge…so sorry to have bothered you. Please, have a donut. You can go.”


Not only did she rush to the site of her daughter’s disappearance thousands of miles away, she remained firm and steadfast and able to lead the crusade into the details, the reconstruction of that night. She has said she is aware of sexual abuse against her daughter on that night. I am not sure how well I would handle hearing my baby was raped before she disappeared and where I would find the composure to keep standing in front of the cameras to do interviews and to keep telling the world my daughter is a person, please don’t forget her, please don’t let the bad people in the world know that one child will not matter.


I saw her on television explaining that young girls go missing on Aruba and are sold as sex slaves. I was wondering where she got her composure and understanding her hope that Natalee was still alive somewhere – anywhere—and hoping she would just be found and could go home again. What I find interesting is that, in fact, one child does indeed matter.


Elizabeth Smart was kidnapped from her bedroom on June 5, 2002. Everyone knew her name and what happened and everyone was horrified because she was 14 years old…too old for blind trust to follow someone, and she was at HOME…home where her parents believed they were keeping her safe. Parents across the nation tightened their grip on their children, and made conscious efforts to further protect their homes. Elizabeth was found alive nine months later with the help her parents struggling to keep her name in the news, of thousands of volunteers, hard-working police and John Walsh (See Adam Walsh, below).


Jamie Bulger’s mother had her back turned while shopping when two boys led her baby away at a shopping mall. All three of them made international headlines when the body of the tortured baby boy was found, and Jamie is forever remembered by parents who were reminded that evil has a face and is really here and able to do anything at any time. I had a son the same age as Jamie when he went missing so perhaps I remember him more than other people, but he still affected millions of people internationally. I still see petitions to lawmakers regarding Jamie, and I still mourn his loss.




“Baby Jessica” McClure was one child who stopped time 19 years ago. She was 18 months old when she fell into an abandoned oil well in Texas. All adults, all parents in the United States at that time knew her name. They were all praying for her. Children knew about her. Children knew they had to be quiet and were fixedly watching the television for news of her rescue. For one moment in time the whole country was sure she would be rescued and we were all just waiting to hear when. It was a tense 58 hours later and everyone I knew cried when she was carried out.


Adam Walsh’s name has been on everyone’s lips at least once during the past twenty-five years. He was 6 years old when he too disappeared from a shopping trip with his mother. Back then no one was available to help, no one shut down the store to help look, no one was helping his mother in her desperate search. It was 2 hours before someone finally called the police, and Adam was missing for sixteen days before his body was found.


However, Adam’s father (John Walsh) has gone on to make sure Adam mattered. Because of him we now have “Code Adam” to aid in locating lost or possibly kidnapped children in businesses nationwide.and shows like “America’s Most Wanted” making sure that bad people are caught and everyone is a little safer. Because of the worth of just one child we have things like “Code Amber” to aid in finding kidnapped children and “Megan’s Law” to alert people to nearby sex offenders.


What I would like to see are more people giving more time and effort into doing what they can to help others like themselves. Others who also work to provide for their family’s needs and who are faltering in the worst moment of their lives. The moment they realize their child is missing…the moment policemen knock on their doors to tell them their child is dead.


What I would like us all to remember is that it could be us. It could be me tomorrow. It could be you. In your worst moment, wouldn’t you like to be able to look around and realize one child makes a difference? My child matters.