Too often the victims of crime--and I believe Natalee Holloway was a crime victim--are forgotten, or at least pushed to the background, particularly when the crime is an unsolved one. The actual mystery itself assumes the forefront: people are, naturally enough I suppose, obsessed with the whodunit/howdunit/whydunit aspect of the case. Everybody loves a good detective story. And this one is a lollapalooza.
So...let's bring Natalee out of the shadows.
She was a very good student; her high school record attests to that. She tutored fellow students in subjects they found difficult, but which Natalee had apparently mastered with ease. She had plans to attend the University of Alabama in the fall of 2005. According to her mother, Beth Twitty (Ms. Twitty has now resumed her previous married name of Holloway), Natalee's intended major was pre-med. It would be interesting to know if she'd chosen a field. Cardiology? Neurology? Obstetrics and gynecology? Pediatrics?
She was an athlete and a member of Mountain Brook High School's highly competitive dance team, The Dorians. She had an after-school job. She was never in any kind of trouble.
She had a ton of friends. She was cherished by her family.
She was very attractive.
And she had a wry sense of humor, in my view one of the most appealing of human qualities. How do I know this? Because of a photograph of her posted in the Internet. Obviously taken at a party, the picture shows her standing with a glass in one hand. With her free hand, she's making a gang sign. On her face is a self-deprecating ironic smile. You can almost see her mentally rolling her eyes at the camera. I don't think I'm making too much of a mere facial expression; other people have told me they reacted exactly the same way to this photo.
Obviously, I never knew Natalee. I kind of wish I had. Maybe we could have shared some laughs.
So...let's bring Natalee out of the shadows.
She was a very good student; her high school record attests to that. She tutored fellow students in subjects they found difficult, but which Natalee had apparently mastered with ease. She had plans to attend the University of Alabama in the fall of 2005. According to her mother, Beth Twitty (Ms. Twitty has now resumed her previous married name of Holloway), Natalee's intended major was pre-med. It would be interesting to know if she'd chosen a field. Cardiology? Neurology? Obstetrics and gynecology? Pediatrics?
She was an athlete and a member of Mountain Brook High School's highly competitive dance team, The Dorians. She had an after-school job. She was never in any kind of trouble.
She had a ton of friends. She was cherished by her family.
She was very attractive.
And she had a wry sense of humor, in my view one of the most appealing of human qualities. How do I know this? Because of a photograph of her posted in the Internet. Obviously taken at a party, the picture shows her standing with a glass in one hand. With her free hand, she's making a gang sign. On her face is a self-deprecating ironic smile. You can almost see her mentally rolling her eyes at the camera. I don't think I'm making too much of a mere facial expression; other people have told me they reacted exactly the same way to this photo.
Obviously, I never knew Natalee. I kind of wish I had. Maybe we could have shared some laughs.