What is wrong with these people?

We live in a rather small community and one would have thought that we'd be sheltered slightly from the insanity of the bigger cities...NOT! We have it all, drunks, druggies, vandals and now murder and downright stupid.

I am about 15 minutes south of Woodstock. I am sure most, if not all of you have heard of Victoria "Tori" Stafford by now. The sweet little 8 year old who was abducted on her way home from school on April 8th. This case basically took over my life for the six weeks we all hoped and prayed to bring her home alive and well. A week ago, it was made clear that that will not happen. Two people have been arrested for her murder. The female baby-killer supposedly tried to help the police locate her body but just couldn't quite remember were it was. The man (and I use that term loosely) is crying buckets in his jail cell claiming he had nothing to do with it.

I am so angry! There was no Amber Alert put out for this little angel for more than a week. What does it take for a missing child to be put on that alert. The police had video of her abductor walking with her from the get-go. The parents gave them every piece of information possible and still they waited. Idiots!

****

Then on Sunday a bright orange rescue helicopter flew over our house. It was so low the sound of it shook the windows. I knew it was stupid, because they aren't looking anywhere near here for Tori, but my first thought was... OMG maybe they found her here! We hopped in the truck and drove the two minutes to the other side of town. No they weren't looking for her... some idiot was driving his big yellow quad, drunk out of his tree, bottle of beer in hand and 1 1/2 year old grandson between his legs. He tipped the bottle to take a slug and fell straight back off the quad onto his head, on the road. The quad kept going and the baby fell off into the grass across the road. The helicopter airlifted gramps out and baby went to get checked out in an ambulance.

So... what is wrong with these people? Don't they realize that children are innocent, trusting little souls who rely on us for their protection? Maybe I am the weird one, but I walked my girls to and from school, or made sure they were in a group until they were at least ten... I knew where they were at all times until they were inn their mid-teens... I never, ever let them get in or on a vehicle with someone who had been drinking. I protected them. Maybe too much, but that was my job!

It's a sad, sad world we live in.

The Afterlife

I am now entering my after life.
What?
Glad you asked.
I am about to find out what life is like after kids. For twenty-seven years I lived for my kids. For twenty-seven years they were my very first thought each morning - their first step, their first word, their first day of school, their first loose tooth, their first date, their first car... the list goes on seemingly forever. For twenty-seven years I have been a mum. I will still be a mum, but not in the same way. Who would have thought when I brought each little pink bundle home from the hospital that all the firsts would fly by so fast.
I was secretary and president of the PTA. I helped out with fundraising... I even ran a dance-a-thon... I trudged them to school when they weren't ready for the test, I marched them into the doctor's office when they pulled some foolish stunt and needed stitches or were so ill they just wanted to be in bed with a 'pillow boat'. I watched with amazed pride as they performed and as they graduated. I sobbed as I watch two of them stroll up the aisle on their daddy's arm. I held tight to my eldest's hand as she brought the miracle of my grandson into the world.
Now, my youngest... my last little bird is spreading her wings.
I will be left alone with my second husband for the first time in twenty-two years. Don't get me wrong, we have been alone before, but the girls were always near, even when we were up north they called every day. I still mothered them.
This is different. This is a whole new place I am walking head first into. This is the after life.
Do I even know how to have a life? My own life? What if the girls were the only thing that held hubby and I together? What if he decides he doesn't even really like me? Or vice versa? What will we talk about? What will we do? Of course, his idea of being able to walk about the house totally in the buff with not a worry of being caught is fine for him... I would never be one to reject the chance to see him in his altogether... but I am much more comfortable hiding within the baggiest clothes possible. Maybe part of my new life will be to get back into the shape I was twenty-seven years ago, so I can join him in his altogether.
I'l let you know how I survive this transition. Any and all advice gratefully accepted.