Randy Roughton: Christmas Wish for Aliayah

Randy Roughton: Christmas Wish for Aliayah: Dear Aliayah, There you are again, those same, sad, little eyes that I’ve seen in almost every photograph since you were first reported mis...

Christmas Wish for Aliayah

Dear Aliayah,
There you are again, those same, sad, little eyes that I’ve seen in almost every photograph since you were first reported missing on Sept. 24. As I see another picture and wonder what you’ve suffered that could have put sadness in your sweet face, I thought I’d write you a letter.
Since you’re not in a place where you can tell me what you want under your tree this year, I will tell you what I wish for you this Christmas.
First, I obviously want you to be found. I’d love to turn on the news, and I wouldn’t see another picture of the sad, little girl that so many people have fallen in love with in the past few months. Instead, I’d see video footage of that same girl, but with a big smile on her face, surrounded by people who love her. The expression on her face is of a child who’s happy and knows everyone around her loves her and will protect her. It’s an expression of a child who knows she has a mommy and daddy waiting who can’t wait for her to see what Santa Claus left for her because nothing in the world matters more to them than to see their daughter happy.
My second wish for you this Christmas is a completely different home from the one you’ve known for the first three years of your life. I don’t know exactly what happened to you before you disappeared almost three months ago. All I know is what I’ve read and seen in the news about your mother and stepfather. I’ve heard about Ralph Lunsford’s criminal record, with more than 20 crimes that include domestic battery, burglary and driving under the influence. Lena, your mother, also has her own record, and has had all six of your siblings removed from her home. But all I need to know is that expression on your face in all of those pictures I’ve seen of you, Aliayah. You look so unbelievably sad in every photo I’ve seen, except one. In that one, your face is bruised. It makes me sad just imagining how tough those three years must have been for you.
My Christmas wish would be a new home for you, one where the parents don’t place drugs or their own temporary satisfaction above the interests of you and your brothers and sisters. In this new home, nothing matters – absolutely nothing – more than the happiness and well-being of Aliayah and all other children in your family. In your new house, there would never be a reason for any sad pictures because children are valued and protected. You would have the opportunity to be the child you are. It would be a place for you to eat, sleep and play without having to ever worry about anyone hurting you. Anybody who doesn’t feel the same way just wouldn’t be welcome in this house.
My third wish would be for you to come downstairs on Christmas morning with a completely different future than the one that we’ve feared since we heard about the dogs searching the banks of the West Fork River since your disappearance. Those fears we’ve been feeling have no place in my Christmas wish for you. Instead, you’re wiping the sleep from your eyes as you walk into a living room covered with Dora the Explorer and other toys. You and your sisters play until you eventually get tired of playing. The wish would continue long after the holidays are over, and you go back to school, with no worries of abuse, neglect and misery in the home to distract you from growing into the wonderful person you were meant to be, if you were just given the chance.
Finally, Aliayah, my greatest wish would be that you had been my daughter. Because if you were, I would’ve done everything in my power to take away that sad expression on your face and replace it with the smile of a little girl with nothing else on her mind right now but what she wants for Christmas and what she’s going to be when she becomes a young woman. Those are my Christmas wishes for you this year, little princess.