My heart breaks

Listening to the stepfather of Shawn Hornbeck, at the press conference today. my heart just breaks for this family. Yes, he is home after four years of being separated from his family. He looks in good health and is in very good spirits. But, he has missed four years of his life with his family. He has not been in school since the day he left four years ago.

Having children of my own and five grandchildren makes me realize this could happen to any of us. There is not one family with children that is isolated from an incident like this. There is no way to know whether there is someone out there looking to steal a child from a family. The only thing we can do is to watch after our children as much as possible. The rest of us, as citizens, should take time to be more aware of our surroundings. Thank the Lord, in the case of Ben Ownby, another young man, age 15, was paying attention to details. And, without him, maybe both of these boys would still be missing.

The Hornbeck family set up a Shawn Hornbeck Foundation, looking for their son. And, the stepfather says that the efforts to find other lost children will continue. They are so grateful to have their son back! He says that America has changed. People have put on blinders, keep to themselves and mind their own business. In other words, we take care of self, and let others do the same. I suppose you can say this is the reason Shawn was missing for four years. But, again, we are thankful that no harm was done to Shawn and Ben; they are once again reunited with their loving families, unlike many other missing children that may never be found.

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