We are beginning to see a disturbing trend here as we respond to comments and clarify our position regarding Heavenlee's situation.

The situation seems to be de-evolving into a tit-for-tat, he said-she said, this & that type of dialogue which really serves no purpose other than to inflame emotions and distract from the overall goal of developing a new law which will bridge the gap now present in our current law as it relates to child endangerment and neglect. In addition, those types of comments are merely unsubstantiated claims which could be echoed by ourselves.

We choose not to engage in this type of dialogue.

We will, therefore, finish up our comments with this posting and return to a more focused goal of achieving new legislation.

It has been suggested that we are stating that the mother of Heavenlee purposely chose not to secure Heavenlee in a proper child safety seat.

Do we feel this is true? Of course not...

To suggest such a thing is just plain silly. We are certain that the mother loves Heavenlee as much as we do.

We would agree with the family however that it is more likely that the driver of the vehicle in which Heavenlee was riding were, in fact, just ignorant of the need to secure Heavenlee more correctly than was done. This fact is supported by the ISP Accident Report, which states that the mother was not wearing a seat belt at the time of the accident.

Apparently, they just didn't know any better. We can accept that and that is why we are engaged with C.H.A.N.C.E.S. For Youth in developing greater educational programs and outreach designed to educate people about the need for more vigilance in protecting our most innocent citizens in Indiana.

Our one concern is that if the mother, as a result of not wearing a seat belt, had been killed in the accident, this would have denied Heavenlee the love of her mother and we would never want that. Heavenlee deserves all the love she can get, be it from the mother and her family, or from her father and his family, including us.

We firmly believe in the healing power of Love and hope that everyone agrees with us that Heavenlee should be surrounded by Love... and not Hate or anger.

Secondly, it has also been suggested that we have no connection with Heavenlee and that we were not present during her newborn stage.

That too is just plain silly. We actually knew the mother during her pregnancy and subsequent birth of Heavenlee. Shortly after her birth and knowing that Dane, Heavenlee's father was to be wed to our daughter Jamie, we gladly accepted Heavenlee into our family without reservation. She instantly became our granddaughter, one of 12 and no finer granddaughter could we have asked for.

We do not use the term "step" when referring to any of our children or grandchildren. We find that word offensive and discriminatory. We do not label our family members with irrelevant titles. For us, we love all our family as one.

After all, The Beatles said it best... "All you need is Love!"

Having cleared the decks, so to speak, of our responses to concerns from others, we now preclude ourselves from any further discourse that does not further the cause we advocate. We are certain others will continue to do so and that is their prerogative. After all, it's a free country and we support free speech.

Scientia est Vox!

James & Amanda Wallace