Justice at Last!

Justice finally came today, that was 1 1/2 years too late. A lovely woman, Linda Neely, was murdered in cold blood in October of 2006, by none other than her husband.

Who was Linda Neely you ask? Linda was a mother of two teenage children who loved her very much. Linda was a sister, daughter, friend, neighbor and community volunteer. Linda was the person who had the biggest impact on mine and Dan's life aside from our direct family, she formed our family. Linda was the adoption coordinator at our adoption agency, New Life. She was the person who called me on May 24th, 2005 at 10:25 am, like she had called sooo many other very happy people in the past, to tell us " Tina, I've got your daughters picture right here in front of me, and she's gorgeous!" I will never forget that day and I've never known such joy in my entire life! She gave me that joy!!

When I told her we wanted to adopt a special needs child, she was so thrilled that we would be adopting again. Her heart was dedicated to helping children who had been orphaned, find their "Forever Families". It seems so tragically ironic, that the person who had been responsible for forming soo many happy families, was so devastatingly unhappy in hers. The last time I heard from her was an e mail I received on my birthday, a few days prior to her murder. She never knew we chose to adopt Max, as we decided November 1st, just a few short days after her passing, but I know she would be delighted that another child found a home.

I know today, many people are thankful that justice has been served. Her husband, who fatally stabbed her in the heart, that fateful day in October, was convicted today of her murder after 1 hour of deliberation. He will face sentencing at the end of February and faces 25 years to life in prison. Even if sentenced to life in prison, he still has life, unlike the beautiful person he took from this world.
Rest in peace Linda.