Hailey and Terry
There is a heaviness in the air right now as the Canadian News and My facebook feed are flooded with photos of little Hailey and her dad Terry.
On Monday morning the remains of Terry Blanchette were found in his home and it was reported that 2 year old Hailey was missing. An amber alert was issued for the young girl and the news went viral. As searches looked in Alberta and BC for the toddler people held hope for her safe return. Today the sad news was reported that little Hailey’s body was found just outside Blairmore. The heaviness I feel in my heart for this family is indescribable. Not only will they be Laying to rest an adult member of their family they also have to lay to rest an innocent child. Our children are supposed to outlive us right?
The news of little Hailey comes as another Alberta family prepares for sentencing of the 2 convicted of taking away their precious child. Meika Jordan was just 6 years old when, on November 14, 2011, her life was ended at the hands of her very own father and his girlfriend while in their care. I remember hearing the news and have followed the trial for the last 4 years. I learned this year that my best friend is a friend of Meika’s step-father and got a more personal look at the family and how they are surrounded by so much love and support. The abuse that poor girl suffered that ended in such a way makes me want to cry all the time. child abuse is, in my opinion, the worst form of bullying that exists in our world.
Meika
Whenever I hear of a missing or dead child I instantly want to hold my own child a little closer, a little tighter, a little longer. A million questions flood my mind about the type of person who could intentionally hurt another especially a child, especially one so young! I get angry at the thought that there are people out there who harm the most vulnerable ones in society, the ones who we are supposed to protect be cherish and teach so that they can grow into amazing adults and leaders of the future. I wonder what went so horribly wrong in that persons life, or what mental illness they suffer that leads them to such a horrific crime. I look at the children I am blessed to have in my life and I can not even fathom the thought of such harm to their innocent little lives!
Dear little Angel,
Thousands of hearts break as you leave this world and enter heaven. You will be holding your daddies hand and the image left in many hearts will be the pictures of you to smiling and making silly faces together. Your photos show that you were deeply loved and will be greatly missed! I believe that little Meika will be by your side and together the photos of your smiling faces and the love of the people that you blessed with your presence will help lead to new laws and hickey intervention as people fight in your memory to stop these acts from happening to more innocent children.
At the same time that I am following the stories of Hailey, Terry and Meika I am following another viral story. There is a Calgary man who is fighting another battle and getting a lot of attention for it. Dawson Raymond is going after a different type of predator. He goes online and poses as a young girl to try and catch pedophiles. They engage in conversation online, share txts and emails and sometimes leads to setting up a meeting. The men show up expecting to find a 13 year old girl and instead are met by Dawson with a camera rolling and all the videos get posted on line. There are certainly some mixed views about what he is doing, but I am thankful that there are people like him in this world trying to stop more innocent girls from becoming victims.
If you or a child you know is the victim of abuse please access the ChildHelp National Hotline
Canada and the U.S. 1-800-4-A-Child (1-800-422-4453) https://www.childhelp.org/hotline/
BCmum 