Christmas1996. I was not preparing for a holiday cruise with my family. I wasnot preparing to give my housekeeper a check for over a thousanddollars. I had not hired Santa to entertain children at my annual Christmas party.No, I wasn't doing any ofthese things. I was futilely making my best efforts to collect all thetorn wrapping paperfrom everywhere in the house - including from the mouths of severaldogs who were seemingly intent on producing copious amounts of homemadeconfetti.
Iwas also endeavoring to keep my older son from putting his littlebrother in the trash can. After rescuing my second son from thegarbage, he looked up at me and said, "Poor tired Mommy. Can I help?"My response? "How about you find a relatively clean glass, pour twofingers of bourbon in it, and bring it to me?" I wasn't joking.
I've never been at risk ofbeing named "Mother of the Year."
Interestinglyenough, however, I appeared to be at risk of murdering my children. Allbecause of a family 1500 miles away whose child had been brutallykilled. A family that had absolutely zilch in common with mine.
Granted,this outside interest in my family was brought on with the help of acorrupt juvenile court judge who just unfortunately happened to be ablood relative.
Waybefore I became so jaded that it's impossible for me to be shocked byjust about anything, I remember shaking uncontrollably as I was toldthat DFACS (ChildProtective Services in Georgia) was going to "keep an eye" onme because of Jon BenetRamsey's murder.This was not my first experience with DFACS. Shortly after my secondchild was born (yes, Benjy the toddler bartender) I was investigatedfor child abuse after I wasaccused of being a lousy cook. Seriously.
So you see, my family wasnothing like the Ramsey family. In particular, I was nothing like Patsy Ramsey. I rememberwatching her on CNNand thinking, "This woman looks more put together at her child'sfuneral than I did on my wedding day!"
Butfor all the differences between us, we have one important thing incommon: Both the Ramsey family and the Baez family have been accused ofhorrific and unspeakable acts of abuse and violence toward our ownchildren.
Iwas lucky to survive the false accusations against my family. Granted,I have some health issues that will probably never go away - but I'mstill standing. One of my children is an adult now and the other one isnot too far behind.
TheRamsey family, on the other hand, is not still standing. Their entryinto the world of the falsely accused began with the brutal murder oftheir child. They have been publicly vilified and been followed forover a decade by a dark cloud of whispered (and sometimes not sowhispered) accusations and suspicions.
Everyone of us who has been falsely accused of child abuse is owed anapology by our accusers and by those who did their bidding. I won't beholding my breath waiting for my family's apology. But let's make surethat the Ramsey family is close to the top of the list.
Tags: DorothyKernaghan-Baez, AFRA, family rights, twitter, cyber-dissident,tarot cards,psychic, DFACS, Georgia, politics, Patsy Ramsey, JonBenet Ramsey,JonBenét Ramsey, John Ramsey, Ramseys, DNA, Murder, United States,Colorado, Boulder, murder
