How is This affecting you, your kids and your family?

petresq_algc

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From day one my daughter has seen me on an emotional roller coaster because of this case. I have felt an incredible connection to Caylee because she looks so much like my daughter did at that age. Also, it hits so close to home because I too was a 19 yr. old party girl who had no intentions of becoming pregnant. Neither her father or I had the maturity level to become parents at that time. We freaked, we panicked & we seriously considered adoption. The difference is that my parents (WONDERFUL parents) told me that I had 7 months to grow up. They said that from the second my child was conceived, it was no longer about me. Tough for a spoiled teenager to hear, but I needed to. My daughter and I bonded before she was ever born & I fell head over heals in love with being a mommy. My ex husband and I needed my parents help for about 6 months, not just financially. My parents taught us how to be parents. They didn't let us lay around the house without jobs, or babysit all the time so we could go out and party. We became mommy & daddy. We have always been brutally honest with my daughter as to how she was unplanned...but NEVER unwanted. Maybe that was a mistake because when she heard the news of the test results, she ran to me & hugged me saying, "Oh my god mommy, that could have been us. Thank you so much for wanting to be my mom. How did Caylee's life turn out so different? If her mom didn't want her, why didn't she just leave?" I was in tears because it was something that I never expected my daughter to have to think about. She is 13 now but wise beyond her years. How do you explain to a young girl that there was MUCH more going on here than a teenager who became pregnant unexpectedly? :cry::cry:
 
I'm having a hard time with this too. Yesterday I just had to step away from the computer for awhile because it was just too overwhelming. My 4-year-old daughter resembles Caylee so much and we had even thought of naming our daughter Kaylee. Last night as I was tucking my little one into bed and she wrapped her little arms around my neck, I looked into her big brown eyes and thanked God for blessing me with such a sweet little girl. I just can't comprehend this. My kids are my world. I am trying to take solace in knowing that sweet little Caylee can never be hurt again. I sincerely hope that LE will have a solid case and CA will pay for the rest of her life for what she did. I pray that Caylee didn't know what was happening. I just can't describe how sad all of this makes me.
 
Caylee is the reason I am here. My heart breaks for young children who's life ends so sudden and tragic.

Luckily my kids are still too young to explain this to.
 
I hugged my girls a little tighter today and held onto them longer. I told them "I love you" more than once just to hear them say it back to me. I looked at my girls today and saw daddy's nose and mommy's lips and think to myself "How could she not see and feel what I am seeing and feeling?"

"Happily I walk.
Impervious to pain, I walk.
Feeling light within, I walk...
In beauty I walk.
With beauty before me, I walk.
With beauty behind me, I walk.
With beauty below me, I walk.
With beauty all around me, I walk.
It is finished in beauty."

~Navajo prayer~
 
Petresq: Casey turned out to be different because she is mentally ill. Lucikly you had great parents to guide you through your experience. It's my opinion that Lee and Cindy were ill equiped to handle Casey's mental illness. Through their enabling they made it worse and unfortunatly it led to something as horirble as this. As in the JBR case, I believe Patsy Ramsey too was suffering from a mental illness (biopolar perhaps) which led to the unfortanate events of JB's murder. Mental illness is a serious condition as we have all witnessed with Britney Spears. We need to be more proactive about getting those that are ill help, and stop ignoring the signs as the Anthony's have done in this case. Glad to hear you raised a wonderful daughter.
 
My children are what makes my heart beat every day. If one of them god forbid should ever be "missing" or Kidnapped, or WHATEVER - I would run until my legs fell off, shout from the top of my lungs to whoever would listen until I dropped over dead to try and find them. I have a three year old, and I live in the Orlando area - so I think I am double impacted by this sad situation. I work, and this is affecting my work!!!! I posted most of the day yesterday - NOT GOOD! I said I needed an outlet for my frustration & anger - and I'm trying to put together a meet up tentatively scheduled for Monday, Labor Day in the A.M. at a park here in town. Possibly Phelps park located in Winter Park - for those of us who want to gather together NOT IN THE PARENT'S LAWN to mourn Caylee!!! Those of us who have taken that little girl into our hearts & hoped for the best, even though we have known from day one this is a worst case scenerio situation.

I'll post the definate meetup location & time out here tomorrow for sure.

P.S. - just to add to this - if anyone has ever experienced this situation, I know you know what I'm talking about!!! We went to pick up my first son at school - he was supposed to be in an after school science program with his OWN TEACHER as the "teacher" - we got to school (he was 6 years old) and were told that oh, he got on the bus this afternoon! This was an hour and a half after we arrived to school to pick him up. My husband called me (he was the picker uper) and I felt my heart go into my throat - he said "HE'S NOT HERE - HE WENT ON THE BUS". I immediately felt a panic like I've never felt in my life - like I felt all the blood drain from my face & arms. My husband hung up, ran into the principal's office & beat down the door to the office all while screaming "MY SON IS MISSING!!! WHERE IS MY SON!!!!!" and on the phone with 911. There was panic and pandemonium until I found out that my son was safe at another bus friend's house - the parent had picked up our son because he didn't see us waiting at the bus stop & our son got off at the normal stop. I felt like the world had stopped turning until we found out our son was safe & sound. This was within 2 seconds of finding out that our son was "MISSING" and not where he was supposed to be - not 31 days.
 
Caylee is the reason I am here. My heart breaks for young children who's life ends so sudden and tragic.

Luckily my kids are still too young to explain this to.

I completely second this.

My kids are too young as well (they're all under the age of 6), but Caylee deserves a voice, justice, and to be brought home to the people who do still care about her (that would be..not her mother).
:rose: Rest in peace Caylee. We all love you.
 
I, agree, she has to be seriously mentally ill to be smiling and partying up while her baby, likely. was decomposing in trunk of her car-- she look like she was happily celebrating ..so sad!
 
I really try not to read this stuff or watch NG or anything until my daughter is in bed. She is 3. I watched a bit of NG a week ago when she was up. She kept talking about the little girl with the mean mommy that was lost. After that, I stopped watching it around her.

My 13 year old has been away visting my parents. I'd probably watch Nancy Grace with him in the room. I haven't yet as he was out with his friends yesterday when it was on. I think he would feel so sad for Caylee because he just loves his little sister so much. he's watching Sleeping Beauty with her right now (but would be mad if I told anyone that. LOL)

You know, I was only 20 when I had my son. I was a big time party girl before I had him. I went out quite a bit after he was born too. My Mom babysat a lot for me. To this day, my son and my Mom have a very strong bond. I have never been jealous of it...only greatful. I understand Casey's feeling about being trapped or not ready to have kids but for as long as I live, I'll never be able to wrap my head around getting rid of her princess. Never.
 
I wanted to reply in this thread and others today, but I just can't do it while I'm a work. I can say this, I'm truly devastated and all three of my children know it.
 
For the most part I have tried to keep this story away from my children. But my oldest son (12) has walked in the room before as I was watching NG. He asked if they had found Caylee yet and if her Mom did something to her. I told him that I didn’t know fore sure but that her actions did not make her (Casey) look good.

This case makes me want to hug my children a little tighter and try to
keep them little. I don't want them to know how cruel the world really is.

 
Mine are too young as well. I deal with it by giving them extra kisses and hugs (more than usual which is already a LOT). When my eldest asks why I'm crying I just tell her a very bad person did something very sad to a sweet baby girl just like her little sister and then she hugs me again and her little sister.
 
Not well honestly....I have a daughter named Kaileigh and she asks for updates about Caylee all the time. I wish I could tell her that she has been found and is okay...I know that won't happen though. I've always taught her that there are bad people in this world and I don't want to shelter her from that kind of thing for the sake of keeping her safe. I want her to know that bad things can happen to any of us...but I also want her to know how much she is loved and that I am just trying to protect her when I make her check in by cell phone every thirty minutes.

I guess all in all, I just hold Kaileigh and Jaxson a little longer and I tell them I love them EVEN MORE than I did.

It breaks my heart because I can't relate at all to this situation.....my kids are the reason I'm alive today. I was born to be their mother. I wouldn't be anything without my kids....just another wife and person in this world. They are my reason for being.

This case makes me so sad!! :(
 
My family has been following it since day 1 - my daughter is asking lots of questions I can't answer (she's 9) but we haven't spoken about it to my 3 year old son (same age as caylee so I've been heartbroken). Last night I showed a picture of Caylee to my son just to see how he reacts (I was reading on .com that kids have a sense about things) and I was so shocked how he reacted. He got a real serious look on his face and said "she left" and then repeated it "she left" then he started to wimper and asked for his dad... I was like WHOA WTF HS all that stuff - my husband came up and we calmly put him to sleep and I regretted doing that but I'm just blown away today. Last weekend we went to a carnival and I took pictures and when we got home I showed him the pics I took and he saw a strange girl in one of them and was like "is she coming to my birthday party?" and times before when he's seen pictures of little kids he's always smiled - I am so baffled by his reaction of sadness... I'm just heartbroken
 
As a 23 year old mother of a 2 year old yes its hard… but it wasn't hard to give up on the partying or the shopping sprees or the foul language talk… it was all for my daughter…

I chose to conceive her… everytime you decide to have SEX guess what you can get pregnant protected or not… I knew exactly what we were doing the night Jianna was conceived…

Yes I have had my moments were Jianna can drive me crazy and push my buttons… but guess what I am pretty sure I did the very same thing to my parents… and I am still here BREATHING and pumping blood!

Why should I punish my daughter because I had her Casey was a grown woman she was 18 I believe she could of gotten an abortion or given her up she doesn't have to blame the mom… maybe the whole giving up was another lie to her friend… who knows who cares… what is IMPORTANT is that Caylee is no longer here because of a selfish person.

And yes this has affected me a lot I look at Jianna and the thought of hurting make me want to throw up and I look at and I can't help but smile st her

My daughter is hitting her terrible twos… an only child…
trust me she is a handful… but never can I hurt her…

BUT I DO KNOW THAT IF MY LITTLE GIRL WAS IN DANGER I WOULD BE IN JAIL TOO BUT NOT FOR BEING INVOLVED BUT KILLING THE ONE THAT HURT MY LITTLE GIRL

and I refuse to give her any slack for having a mental problem she is evil and had it planned out she just didn't think her mom was on her trial…

she wanted the cards to play differently

and trust me if it was an accident she would of said so COME on you know how many people would have pity for her because her daughter died by accident Casey would have loved for that to be the case…
 
Its been tough for me. I was a sr in hs and a partier when my oldest was conceived.
I didn't have great parents to lean on to show me how to be a parent- ok well maybe they did, I knew I wanted to be nothing like them. So I guess they did teach me something.
My husband worked two jobs back then, I worked full time and went to school full time. All without the help of our parents as built in babysitters. We paid for childcare and paid a lot for it! Sometimes I feel guilt because I missed almost the first two years of my daughters life because I was busy trying to provide for her and better our lives for the future. I finished my schooling and have been a stay at home mom ever since, maybe its my way of making it up to her. Now 5 kids later, I can't believe how far we have come.
The thing is, back then I never had resentment towards my daughter because all my friends were out partying still. I never resented the fact that I had to work my tail off to put food on the table. I knew that it wasn't her fault. I knew that she didn't ask to be born and I knew from the begining despite what anyone else said that I had choices. I choose to have her and I have never looked back since.
Casey had those same choices in front of her regardless of what Cindy said or thought. Casey was 19 years old and was considered an adult. Even as of recently, if Casey felt that Caylee was in the way, she could have left her with Cindy and George. She could have turned her in to DFCS. There were a million other options.
Casey did what she did out of sheer convenience and self centeredness. She had no regard for the child that she conceived and carried for 9 months. She had no regard for her family. Only for herself.

How has this case affected me? It has definitely made me appreciate what I have in my family. It has made me appreciate my husband, who stuck by my side even though he could have bailed at any point. It has made me appreciate my children that much more.
Last night, I needed to be close to my oldest. I needed to hold her in my arms. I needed to feel like her mommy again. At 12 years old, our relationship is changing. It is redefining itself. But I needed her. So I for went sleeping in my comfy bed in my hubby's arms and climbed into bed with my daughter. My back is killing me today, she is still the bed hogger that she was at 4 and I am exhausted. But ya know what- it was worth it. Holding her again, made me feel whole.
I needed that after reading the things I read yesterday.
 
This is so unbelievably heartbreaking. I live in Orlando and was drawn into not because I'm a parent (which I am) or because it's so close to home, it's because of the compassion and love for all human beings that I have. I was a young unwed Mom at 19 with my son who is now 17 and is a honor roll student with a 75% College scholarship thru the State of FL, YES it can be done!!! But when I heard the news yesterday regarding the results I felt a wave of emotions... Anger - Casey should rot in hell, Sadness - the tears came without warning, Sympathy for the GP's (yes, I said it don't hurt me), I just try to put myself in thier position... Your child and your grandchild, that's one side I wouldn't want to pick! Anywho, just hope that NO IMMUNITY is offered to Casey, after all nothing was offered to Caylee in this tragedy!
 
My kids are all older (18, 13, 12). As they have grown up and watched me react to missing and murdered children, they are learning a lot about the evil that dwells in the world around us. Not only is it teaching them compassion, but I hope they're learning how to keep themselves safe and make good choices later in life.
 
Mine are too little to understand. They'll be 2 in December.

I just look at that picture of Caylee, and I think about the fact that she liked to sleep in her mommy's bed.

I can't understand how a mom can sleep now, remembering the silky hair, the soft breath, the smooth cheeks of her baby girl snuggled next to her.

It breaks my heart.
 
I am also extra emotional with this case, esp. last night and today as the news came out that Caylee is most likely dead. I have a daughter who is the same age as Caylee...my DD will be 3 in Nov. I've been giving her tons of extra hugs and kisses and have felt even more protective of her when going out anywhere lately. I just cannot imagine how anyone, especially a mother, could harm let alone kill their child. I am saddened and disgusted...to me, Casey is a monster and selfish and should pay dearly for this. Even if this was an accident, the fact is, she covered it up, lied and kept lying over and over and showed no care or concern let alone grief for her missing child. I hope she gets murder charges even if it was an accident. The covering and scheming and partying while she was gone, not reporting it, not calling 911 if it was an accident, all that to me speaks of someone who did not care if something happened to their child. But I really don't believe at this point it was an accident. I think after reading a lot of the 400-pg (not all of it, I am mom and don't have that kinda time!) that she premeditated this.

But yes, def. having a child now, especially one the same age as Caylee, makes this case even more heartbreaking than normal. I've shed a lot of tears and once it's confirmed she is dead or they find her body, I am sure I'll shed even more. I just hope they can give her a proper burial - she deserves at least that. Casey deserves nothing.
 

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