Letter to Casey

I am writing this in hopes that either the Anthony family reads here or someone they know will read it and make sure Casey listens to what I have to say.

Dear Casey:

This letter is not meant to degrade, judge or belittle you in anyway. It is simply asking you to think about some things in a different light.

First, we as the public, only have what we read or hear in the media, which may or may not be correct, to use as our basis to form conclusions about the situation. Everyone seems to have an opinion on what happened but as I said they may not necessarily have all the facts and the facts they have may not be accurate. However, one fact is clear and that is that you and only you know exactly what happened concerning little Caylee.

It doesn't matter what you think of your parents or how you get along with them. I think we've all hated our parents at some point during our teenage and young adult life. They just don't understand do they? Well, while I have to admit that some of the actions on the part of your parents have outraged me, I believe they are guilty of nothing more than loving you too much. Yes, you can love a person too much and want to protect them from any harm at any cost, right or wrong. This is what I see in your mother. She appears to be the type of mother that has always shielded you, protected you, made excuses for you, did whatever it took to make you happy, and shifted responsibility of your actions onto others to make you look good. She probably went to bed every night thinking "tomorrow will be different. I'm sure Casey has learned her lesson." She just didn't realize that she wasn't teaching you anything, she was only enabling you to continue on the path of destruction she was trying so hard to stop.

Now, every time your parents leave their home they are surrounded by media asking a million questions. They are confronted by total strangers calling you (their own flesh and blood) a baby killer of a child they loved with all their heart. They know people are pointing and staring and whispering each and every time they leave the house to do anything. They know their friends, co-workers and acquaintances are slowly but surely walking away from them. They are under more pressure right now than I would ever wish on my worst enemy. All of this, while you are protected and shielded from the media, the protesters and the mob of people who just want answers to what happened to Caylee.

My point to you Casey is that you hold the key to stop all this madness. Show the world that you are the woman you tried so hard to make people believe you were. Show us that you are mature and caring enough to turn the tables and start protecting your family from everything they are going through. You know they would do it for you if the shoe was on the other foot. Just tell the truth and you might actually be surprised at the reaction of your friends, neighbors, acquaintances and public in general. Lots of people will judge and condemn you for it but that's always going to be the case no matter what you do in this life. But many people will begin to have respect for your honesty, your change of attitude and your love for the people who would give their life for you -- your parents. And perhaps most of all, your parents can regain their life with somewhat of a normalcy about it.

I am a parent and grandparent and I know that parents will never stop loving their children. They may hate what their child did and they may blame themselves and ask where did I go wrong, but they will always love you and forgive you. I’m not saying any of this will be easy but time has a way of healing all wounds.

And lastly, what do you have to lose by telling exactly what happened on that last day you saw that precious baby? You have already lost the people you thought were your friends. They are not coming back because they hear and see all the media reports that we see. However, none of these people have had any bad things to say about you as a mother. Some of them may come back into your life or they may not. One thing is for certain though, as long as you continue to play this game and tell things that can be verified as false, those people are gone forever. You hold the key to making today the first day of the rest of your life. Do you really want to live the rest of your life under suspicion, ridicule, loneliness, and ostracized no matter where you go in this country? If the case were dropped right now for lack of evidence, where do you think you could get a job and start a new life? Where do you think your parents could go without being treated as outsiders? Do you really want to be another OJ that is mocked, laughed at, made the brunt of jokes in the media and under total and complete scrutiny for the rest of your life? The only friends (or so called friends) you will have will be shady characters that will only lead you down another road of disaster. Life will be the same for your parents. After everything they have done for you in the past 22 years, food, shelter, medical attention, love, support and then they did it all over again for Caylee, don't you think you owe them the right to put this behind them and get on with their lives? Don't you think they deserve some happiness? Don't make them suffer into their old age or even put them in an early grave. Stand up and be a woman and tell exactly what happened on that fateful day in June. And no matter what happens, God will be there if you do the right thing.