Karla Faye Tucker-Brown, I'll never forget you
As the days and weeks went on,
Karla became an every day thing
with the media. I want to say that
what I saw on TV day in and day
out was no Lizzie Borden! I saw a
woman full of love, compassion
and hope. I saw a woman who I
could bring home to meet mom
and dad. What I saw on the TV
was someone who did something
wrong, and showed the utmost
remorse for it. There was no cold,
ham, callous person. There was
no devil or hatred or a bumming
desire to do anything like that
again. I saw someone who was
giving of herself and wanted to
show the world that there was a lot
of warmth in her heart.
I never had the chance to meet
Kana. I did write her a letter to
give her my support and concern.
But, by the time I wrote and sent
my letter, she had become a
worldwide issue. I'm sure she
received my letter, but with the
overload of mail she had been
receiving, I never got a reply.
That's ok, Kana. You now know
that you are always in my thought
and prayers.
I have always heard people say
that they'll never forget where they
were the day JFK was
assassinated Or when the
Challenger exploded. Well, I'll
always remember where I was on
February 3, 1998. When I heard
the news that Kana Faye Tucker
Brown has been
executed. ..murdered in Huntsville,
Texas, I cried. I felt like my own
sister was gone. You know what?
My sister died on February 3, 1998
in Huntsville, Texas. Why? Why
was this beautiful person taken
from us? Does two wrongs make
one right? Karla was a good
person. She was helping other
inmates. She had friends and.
family who loved and cared for her.
We always will. I don't
understand. As a boy growing up,
I was always told that we do not
kill. Yet if someone kills us, we as a
society and state say that we're
going to kill you for killing! What?
In a sense, George Bush gave the
OK for the state to kill Karla. Why
wasn't he arrested for murder or
conspiracy to commit murder?
Killing or murder is wrong.
Whether I do it, you do it or that
state does it, it's down right
WRONG!
The other day I heard a song on
the radio.. It reminded me of Karla.
The thought of her flooded my mind
with the words. That night when I
went to bed, Karla was still heavy
on my mind. I had a dream of her
telling all of us:
I'm sailing away
I look to the sea
We lived happily forever, so the story goes
A gathering of angels
Come sail away, come sail away
I thought that they were angels
Come sail away, come sail away
Karla, I never knew you personally.But I know you through TV andnewspapers. I hope that when I
finally go home and get face toface with Jesus, I'll see you and my
4-year-old son, Joshua, there to
meet and greet me. Stay gold,
Karla. I'll never forget you.
by Jim Vasaldua
It was a few days before
Thanksgiving when I first heard the
name of Kana Faye Tucker-Brown.
I was watching the evening news
when I heard the anchor say that
Texas was going to execute the
first woman since the Civil War. I
did a double take. I didn't know if I
heard right. Sure enough, I did. I
wanted to find out who this lady,
Kan Faye Tucker-Brown is.
Without hesitation, I went to a local
bookstore and asked the question,
"Do you have any information on
Kana Faye Tucker-Brown? They
didn't. But the lady I talked to
asked me if I had ever heard of
Lizzie Borden. I told her I had and
she went on to say that Kana Faye
Tucker was a modem day Lizzie
Borden.
Set an open course for the virgin sea
'Cause I've got to be free
Free to face the life that's ahead of me.
On board I'm the captain, so climb aboard
We'll search for tomorrow on every shore
And I'll try, oh Lord, I'll try
To carry on
Reflections in the waves spark my memories
Some happy, some sad
I think of childhood friends and the dreams we had
But somehow we missed out on the pot of gold
But we'll try best that we can
To carry on
Appeared above my head
They sang to me this song of hope
And this is what they said. They said
Come sail away with me, lads
But to my surprise
We climbed aboard their sailship
And headed for the skies
Come sail away with me, lads