Birthday Cards for Ethan.

I wasn't planning on doing a post about this as it's just too heartbreaking, but I really wanted to share the "Cards for Ethan" initiative that will be taking place this week. Ethan is the little boy that is tragically being held hostage in an underground bunker in Midland City, AL. This coming week he will be turning six years old.

Midland City is located 43 miles away from my hometown in neighboring Dale County. The area I live in in Alabama (and where Midland City is located) is mainly made up of sparsely populated, typically sleepy towns. As such, it can seem like at times that the whole southeastern part of the state is just one large extended community, and when a tragedy occurs in one of those towns, it feels like it has happened to us all.

That's how the situation in Midland City has felt. It has gripped us all from the very first moments, and over the past week he has become, in the words of the Dale County Sheriff, "our child", as well. I know that law enforcement are doing everything in their power to have him released, and I know that there isn't anything regular citizens like me can do other than hope and pray that it will end soon with a positive outcome. This is something I can do, however.

You can read the original post about "Cards for Ethan," including the address to mail the birthday cards to, here on RickeyStokesNews.com, one of our local news sources. And please keep this sweet little boy, his family, and the family of his heroic bus driver in your thoughts and prayers.

Update:
So happy to be able to update this post and say that I just saw on our local news that little Ethan has been safely removed from the bunker and is being treated at an area hospital. You can read more, including live coverage, here:
RickeyStokesNews.com
or
WTVY