Sorry about that, Patsy Ramsey!

DNA is an amazing enough tool on its own, now we can isolate DNA from a touch? Wow. What else has solved as many crimes, helped successfully prosecute more scumbags, allowed more innocent people to finally go free than DNA? Let's toss as much money as it takes into creating labs and training scientists so we can test every bit of evidence out there, without any backlog. Since we have never been able to strike the fear of God or blind justice into those who prey on others, let's at least slap them down with their own skin cells.
I'm sure it's quite a relief for the remaining Ramsey family and the people who stood by them that DNA evidence reportedly clears Ramsey family Still, it's a bit too little too late for Patsy Ramsey, isn't it? Don't get me wrong, I can certainly see how the Ramseys were an easy family to dislike. Like anyone, I was shocked and a bit appalled to have the reality of child pageantry shoved in my face in the form of pictures and video of that overly made-up and costumed now-dead child. None of that made them guilty but it doesn't seem to matter. Even now, Patsy Ramsey is still being blamed! If you had a feeling she did it, why would an official exoneration based on actual science convince you otherwise? We do it all the time. Make a list: Polly Klaas, Natalee Holloway, Adam Walsh, Madeleine McCann, and as quickly as you can say the names, someone will tell you exactly why the parents are somehow to blame. If they aren't the out and out killers who got away with it, then they certainly did something wrong, something the person sitting in judgement would never ever do. I don't get it. I've made plenty of mistakes as a parent and I consider myself to be damned lucky none of my mistakes resulted in any of my children being front page news. And I never stop praying I can still say the same on my last day on Earth. Yes I realize sometimes it really is the parents, but if there is a chance it was someone else, doesn't common decency suggest we refrain from reaching a verdict until we know? Perhaps we feel safer believing that these sorts of things are preventable, that if we never turn our back, walk away, go to bed early, cry too much, cry too little, look too long, give up too soon, then the worst possible nightmare that could ever happen to any parent will never happen to us.
Don't we all sometimes pause and look at our children and feel our heart catch at the possibilities? We dedicate our lives to raising happy children, children who will be strong and alert but not fearful, who will enjoy childhoods full of fun and learning and who will grow into adults who love life and make a difference. Meanwhile in a parallel world, other children are being scarred and branded and twisted into becoming the predators that are a part of our world. And all we can do is pray to whatever version of God or fate we believe in that their lives will never intersect.