Is it time for the Caylee memorial to come down?

[tripleC]

I voted yes. While it's comforting for strangers to have some place to go, I don't think it's fair for the kids who go to school on that road to see that every day. I don't believe where you die or where you are tossed is where your soul is. I told my family if I ever die when I'm out and about DO NOT waste money on flowers or tokens to leave at that spot or on my grave for that matter. Buy some star gazer lilys (my favs) and put them in your house because THAT is where I'll be....with my family.

 

[kew17]

I voted yes. While it's comforting for strangers to have some place to go, I don't think it's fair for the kids who go to school on that road to see that every day. I don't believe where you die or where you are tossed is where your soul is. I told my family if I ever die when I'm out and about DO NOT waste money on flowers or tokens to leave at that spot or on my grave for that matter. Buy some star gazer lilys (my favs) and put them in your house because THAT is where I'll be....with my family.

What a lovely way to look at that! Thanks for sharing....that really touched me tonight! :blowkiss:

 

[OneLostGrl]

My opinion is that no one has any business leaving anything anywhere if it is not biodegradable. Leaving something for a dead child that one did not know personally in my opinion is ludicrous.

lu·di·crous Listen to the pronunciation of ludicrous
Pronunciation:
\ˈlü-də-krəs\
Function:
adjective
Etymology:
Latin ludicrus, from ludus play, sport; perhaps akin to Greek loidoros abusive
Date:
1712

1 : amusing or laughable through obvious absurdity, incongruity, exaggeration, or eccentricity 2 : meriting derisive laughter or scorn as absurdly inept, false, or foolish
synonyms see laughable
— lu·di·crous·ly adverb
— lu·di·crous·ness noun

LOL. While I wouldn't go that far, I think I agree with your general idea. I also did much care for LP having a memorial for her.

 

[OneLostGrl]

Donating small stuffed animals to LE/Red Cross/Crisis Centers/Fire Departments or something like that for traumatized children would be wonderful, imo. (maybe wrapped in plastic to keep them clean until they are needed)

I've seen things like this done on Cops. Yo Yo's were pretty handy for little boys. IMO, during such a stressful event in a tender child's life at such a terrifying moment a child can form a terrible fear of LE. I met a child that had full on panic attacks when she saw anyone in police uniform. She was five and obviously her family had had a few run in's with the law. Unfortunately. They moved in next door to my sister and her husband and my brother and his girlfriend were all police officers. Anyway back on point, I think a small gift and a kind word and maybe a gentle hug would/could change the way a child feels about LE for the rest of their lives.

An old friend of mine told me once that being able to give scared little kids a teddy bear to take with them to a motel after seeing their home burn down sometimes helped more than anything else. She worked for the Red Cross at the time I knew her .

What do you all think the people who still want to give in Caylee's spirit would think about doing that?

I think that is a wonderful idea!

 

[L L & S]

I think that is a wonderful idea!

Thank you for your input.

 

[one_hooah_wife]

In my hometown, there still exists a cross that was placed in 1988. It was placed as a reminder to us all, of a life cut short ... a dear friend, son and brother ... I would feel personally offended, if ever I were to drive through that area and not see that simple epitaph.

I am not saying that everything should remain ... but there should exist some something that honors those big hazel eyes ... that sweet sweet spirit ... America's Caylee. I wonder, what does the word "suburban" mean to anyone ... pretty generic, actually ... maybe someone in the area could submit to the city counsel that Suburban Drive be heretofore known as "Caylee Marie Anthony Dr." ... If anyone in this district would like to take this up with the city counsel ... I would be happy to draft any neccessary legal documents, pro bono!

 

[Pookie Dust]

I have had such a bad day with my little baby (my dog) being sick (all over the house) and I'm in such a bad mood (I hope this is the reason and I'm not just mean)...but my first thought when I read that poll was...YES it should be kept up but in the A's front yard and they should have to look at it every day for the rest of their lives. I truly believe that if they would have pulled their heads out of their a@@es, Caylee would be alive today....and maybe their daughter would have run away never to be seen again.

Sorry...just venting....

 

[Ripley007]

I'm not especially big on "memorials". Frankly, they really bum me out. The main way I drive to work contains a certain spot that is a memorial for a beatiful young 17 girl who died after losing control of her car on a minor service road with a 35 MPH speed limit. However, this happened 5 years ago. I GOT IT and respected it for the first 2 years or so, but now, after 5 years....sorry to sound insensitive, but, really....
Tell me, online friends, how am I suppossed to feel...(Ps-my own daughter, as a teen (2 years ago) was a passenger in a horrible, terrible, horrific, car acciedent involving herself and 2 friends. Non of them died, my daughter was the one who suffered the most with life-time scars and injuries...but she survives)...My opinions are jaded perhaps. No, the boy driving the car didn't have ANY insurance. My beautiful girl lost the top 1/3 of her right ear, has a 4" long 1/2" wide scar running up her beautiful slim waist...and about 15 round spots on her arms and back that look like acne cysts, but they are in fact just round scar tissue marks from the "safety glass" imbedding itself into her flesh. My daughter claims not to be bothered by her many scars, but as her mother, my heart aches. It aches the most that I cannot afford to give her the gift of plastic surgery to hide/remove her scars. Sorry, for my OT post...

Still, THE important part of this story is that my daughter SURVIVES! Her, and the other two kids... Liability and fault set aside. Forget about it! Survival and LIFE is all that matters!

 

[tripleC]

What a lovely way to look at that! Thanks for sharing....that really touched me tonight! :blowkiss:

You're very welcome :blowkiss:

 

[tripleC]

I'm not especially big on "memorials". Frankly, they really bum me out. The main way I drive to work contains a certain spot that is a memorial for a beatiful young 17 girl who died after losing control of her car on a minor service road with a 35 MPH speed limit. However, this happened 5 years ago. I GOT IT and respected it for the first 2 years or so, but now, after 5 years....sorry to sound insensitive, but, really....
Tell me, online friends, how am I suppossed to feel...(Ps-my own daughter, as a teen (2 years ago) was a passenger in a horrible, terrible, horrific, car acciedent involving herself and 2 friends. Non of them died, my daughter was the one who suffered the most with life-time scars and injuries...but she survives)...My opinions are jaded perhaps. No, the boy driving the car didn't have ANY insurance. My beautiful girl lost the top 1/3 of her right ear, has a 4" long 1/2" wide scar running up her beautiful slim waist...and about 15 round spots on her arms and back that look like acne cysts, but they are in fact just round scar tissue marks from the "safety glass" imbedding itself into her flesh. My daughter claims not to be bothered by her many scars, but as her mother, my heart aches. It aches the most that I cannot afford to give her the gift of plastic surgery to hide/remove her scars. Sorry, for my OT post...

Still, THE important part of this story is that my daughter SURVIVES! Her, and the other two kids... Liability and fault set aside. Forget about it! Survival and LIFE is all that matters!

Huge hugs to you! You've done a great job raising a confident young lady who knows scars don't define a person. Well, done Mom!

 

[circe257]

I understand people wanting to pay their respects to this innocent child whose life was taken. But, as others have said, there are other ways to do so. I'm not big on memorials, I feel they should be reserved for those close to the deceased. For me there is just too much of an association with leaving something to sit out in the elements forever and the many months she waited there to be found. When the notes and cards and stuffed animals get soggy and dirty, when the flowers have died - it's no longer suitable as a memorial. That's why cemeteries have groundskeepers.
For those who may wish a more permanent memorial I would suggest a magnolia tree. The flowers last for just a short time each season, but are beautiful when they are in full bloom. To me, it's a fitting tribute for a beautiful child whose life was so short.
In addition there are many, many children centered charities and organizations that could use more donations and volunteers....perhaps giving money or time in her honor, while helping another child.....
Just my 2 cents...

 

[LiveLaughLuv]

From this WESH article:

http://www.wesh.com/news/18960100/detail.html

I voted NO...

I think Caylee's memorial should sit there until her mother is convicted of her murder..

I also think it should sit there so the Anthony family is reminded daily of what happened to Caylee..:furious:

 

[debbie0604]

I don't believe anyone should be creating memorials on land they don't own and anywhere where it could create a traffic hazzard. This one is both on someone else's land and creating a traffic hazzard.

If anyone wants to give something to memorialize Caylee, they should make a donation in her name to Texas Equisearch or a children's hospital or something similar. That would have far more impact on the world than a pile of soggy teddy bears.

I agree. I think that making donations to a children's charity or to Texas Equisearch in Caylee's name would have far more impact than leaving toys on someone's property. While it is nice to have a memorial leaving flowers and toys at the site where Caylee was found, it is time now to move forward and try to heal..seeking justice for Caylee. I think any future donations should be given to children's charities in Caylee's name, such as the Children's Defense Fund, Childhelp, or National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. JMO.

 

[CastlesBurning]

Personally, I'm not really big on the idea of leaving tributes on the place a person died in the first place -- to me, that seems almost like you're saying that the person's spirit or soul or what have you is eternally bound to the one spot where the bad final moment occurred. IMO it's better to simply hold the memories inside yourself of your loved ones -- or, in the case of someone like Caylee, who affected many that did not actually know her personally during her short life -- DO something useful in her name. As several posters already mentioned, there are many causes that would gladly take those toys and put them to good use, and Caylee herself can't use them now. It's also better than obstructing someone's land, creating potential hazards, etc. Or, perhaps, make a donation to an appropriate charity of choice in Caylee's name -- that's even better, since it's still a great way to pay tribute, yet doesn't leave any tangible remains.

But, yeah -- as for the original question, I do think it's time to take the memorial down. I think something like that is a great way to help people through the raw grief and shock when something has just newly happened. But life does goes on.

 

[LawRig]

From this WESH article:

http://www.wesh.com/news/18960100/detail.html

Because she was so physically lost for so long, this is the only place people can go right now, who are moved to express their feelings, about Caylee's life and death. Or where they can express their grief. There isn't really any physical location, other than here, that offers a tangible way to say their goodbyes. If they had a different location, they could perhaps be encouraged to relocate their focus. The owner of the land was an innocent bystander, who probably cant sell the property now without a loss (and should sue Casey for damages and recovery.) But unless someone charitably acquires this spot and turn it into a decently maintained memorial, it will continue to be an oft-visited public eyesore. Every time Caylee is mentioned in the news or Casey is, it will trigger visitation. Even if it was maintained, it's in a residential area and would still be problematic. It should be returned to as much anonymity as possible.

As was already mentioned, as we are coming up on the first anniversary of Caylee's death, it will probably see renewed activity there. But, as the years move on, interest will eventually fade there, and it will be just another location where another murdered child was found. There are a lot of children out there who never got to go home again, or are not found even after death. We can't claim privilege on all of these locations. (I am not sure if Connor’s recovered remains were memorialized at the shore line or not.) But you see the difficulty in marking so many places. It's not fair to the owners to inundate the areas with toys, signs, balloons, or traffic. I personally think it was generous to allow the Padilla-Grund occasion, but now that's over and it needs to be restored to the owners for whatever purpose is deemed best to them.

In my mind, dedicating a stone or marker in a public place, in her honor, such as a park, where it was okay to mourn publicly or had some sort of regular maintenance would be more fitting. Preferable, over piles of rotting stuff, neglected more than not, on the side of a road, where no one needs to go down. That's not really remembering in an honorable way, that's just being ghoulish. It interferes with the nature of the neighborhood, the owner of the land, the school and everyone who was not involved with the evil that created the reason for it all.

So yes, it's time to come down, it's time to find a better way to remember the sweet little girl more than the gruesome remains or the cruel disregard that put her there. Its time to let the owner get distance from the notoriety. (I still think the owner should sue for damages.) It's time for the public to support the privacy of the landowner, and encourage the organizations that promote the safety and wellbeing of children. Let us seek peace for the innocent bystander, pursue justice for the ones taken and demand the punishment of those who hold themselves above the law. And then we can hold Caylee in our memories, not the memory of her skeletal remains held hostage in a swamp.

 

[Seebra]

I actually wish that someone would buy the land and dedicate it to Caylee and all of the lost little children across the world.

I want it to remain forever as a reminder to the monster who killed that little baby, and also a place where parents can go to understand how precious their own children are.

I for one wish I had the money to buy this property and create a forever memorial on it for all suffering, abused and mistreated children.

And I would name it officially

"The Caylee Marie Children are the Greatest Gift" Sanctuary.

 

[sweetmop]

Little Caylee was lying out in the elements, rotting to bones daily, for a very long time.
I personally think this memorial should stay right there for a very long time as a visual reminder of the evil that happened to an innocent little child.

 

[mayfairlight]

I agree the memorial at that place should come down. These kind of places often turn into shrines for weirdos. The best memorial for Caylee to me would be a Caylee Anthony Memorial Fund, for what purpose I'm not sure, as long as it's in childrens best interests. :blowkiss:

 

[MiraclesHappen]

I don't mind if an eternal flame is put on the memorial site.

On the other hand, if Casey gets the death penalty, and some groupie puts up a memorial, I would be tempted to tear it down while it was being put in place. (would never do anything like that, but thoughts are legal)

We just have so many threads about this angel Caylee smiling down from heaven and "seeing " this or that tribute,

Why don't we want her to see a sweet memorial full of her fave things. I don't think she's smiling down on wherever they put the ashes. More is appropriate. Sometimes, more is okay.

Humble-Opinion:wolf:

 

[Lexington]

I think the memorial should be removed. It has been 3 months since Caylee's remains have been recovered and IMO 3 months is an adequate amount of time for people to visit and leave their momentos. Why have the children who attend the school across the street be reminded day in and day out that a child's murdered body was disposed of there. I would think that it would make them sad and scared.