Natalie

Monday In Aruba, 2005...

I have always been bothered by the story of Aruba and the disappearance Natalie Holloway. So much has been said and so much has been written on this subject, but allow me to offer a different spin – not on what happened, but what should have happened.

There were 125 members of the Mountain Brook High School senior class that traveled to the beautiful Caribbean island of Aruba. Only 124 returned and we have heard so much about the story surrounding the tragedy, and it still remains a mystery. In all likelihood, it will be an unsolved mystery forever.

I happen to believe that one can travel anywhere on the planet, and there are people out to get you. So many blamed it on Aruba, but in my mind, the blame belongs someplace else. These were high-school kids having fun and not surprisingly, there was alcohol involved. More to the point, there was a single bar involved, and in this bar, Natalie had the unfortunate experience of meeting one of these guys that “are out to get you.”

My following statement has nothing to do with hindsight because I know precisely what would have happened had I been there. There would be no way on this earth that she would have walked out that door with three guys and jumped in a car that was heading for the beach. Chaperones have a responsibility in terms of just being chaperones, and if you are in your hotel room sleeping, it's possible that somebody is going to get into trouble.

I have been in Aruba, but I wasn't there that night, and maybe it's totally unfair to blame the adults that were on this trip. I only know what I would have done. It's possible that there would have been a confrontation, but one thing is for sure -there is absolutely no way that these kids get into that car.

It's not all that complicated, but for whatever reason, the adults were not there when she needed them. In my mind, this is the real tragedy.