12-06-2010, 05:36 PM
from the Charlotte Observer. a journal that she was paid to do by the news people who brought her over. it should satisfy all the soap-opera fans. 
drama, pathos, blah blah blah.
photo below at the house where Zahra lived. had to get that mic on to spontaneously *sob* properly for the press.
sound check sound check
Monday, Dec. 06, 2010
Emily Dietrich
Emily Dietrich wrote of her final visit to Zahra's memorial: “It was so extremely hard to leave the tree. It was the only connection I had to Zahra and I didn't want to lose her again.
More than three weeks after she visited Hickory to meet police investigating her daughter’s death, Zahra Baker’s biological mother has shared her personal account of the trip.
Emily Dietrich gave $$$$$ the four-day journal entry to News 7 Australia, the TV network that accompanied her to the U.S., and stayed by her side during her most emotional moments.
Dietrich has said she gave up Zahra while suffering from postpartum depression, then spent many of the following years trying to reunite with her daughter.
She had only discovered Zahra’s whereabouts in Hickory three days before she was reported missing.
VERY STRANGE CONSIDERING ZAHRA WAS IN NEWSPAPER ARTICLES AND ON TV AND THE FATHER AND STEPMOTHER WERE ON THE INTERNET ALL OVER THE DAMN PLACE.
Dietrich starts by writing about how nervous she is about the trip that will bring her closer to her daughter, whom she hadn’t seen since the little girl was a toddler.
“I was finally going to be the closest I have been to Zahra since she was just under 2 years old and I took her to the gardens for the day,” she writes. “But I wasn't really going to be any closer to her at all. I wasn't going to be able to hold her again, or tell I love her and I'm proud of the courageous and beautiful young girl she had become.”
The day after arriving in Hickory, Dietrich describes getting up before dawn to visit the memorial at the tree outside Zahra’s home on 21st Avenue NW. She is overcome by emotion at the sight of all of its notes, balloons, and stuffed animals.
"I tried to get out of the car, but my entire body was shaking so much I was having trouble standing," she writes. She is comforted by the notes and expressions of support from so many people, but sickened by the sight of the house where Zahra may have spent her final days.
“She had laughed and cried and grown in this house. She had also been mistreated and abused in this house. She had, by all accounts, been kept like a prisoner in this house,” she recalls. “This house made me so insanely angry, and sick, and lost.”
She is further shaken by her meeting with police later that day. Most of it goes smoothly, but then the investigators’ expressions grew more solemn as they passed a press release to her, detailing what they will tell the media at a press conference. It explains that evidence has been found that could prove Zahra is dead.
"I wanted to scream and cry," she says. "My small piece of hope faded."
Although DNA tests were pending at this point, police were confident that remains of a child found near a creek in Caldwell County belong to Dietrich’s daughter.
Dietrich writes, "I was shaking from head to toe, I wanted to cry so much but, at that point, barely shed a tear.” She goes on, expressing the same anger as many people who have followed the case. “My baby girl was dead, and they had just put her in a hole like a family pet. Who could do such a beastly thing?"
But Dietrich also finds reasons to smile during the trip – a meal at Bojangle’s, getting a woven bracelet like those investigators on Zahra’s case are wearing, spending an evening with a couple who invited her to retreat at their home during her emotionally-draining journey. She is overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and support shown to her and for her daughter.
She makes another visit to the memorial tree, with mixed emotions.
“It was so extremely hard to leave the tree,” she writes. “It was the only connection I had to Zahra and I didn't want to lose her again.”
She goes on. “I just had to take a few deep breaths and remind myself that she wasn't at that tree, it was a place where people could show their love and support.”
Dietrich finally sums up her trip as a soothing one -- one that helps her realize her daughter is finally at peace.
“My search for Zahra was finally over,” she writes. “I may not be able to ever hug her, or give her a kiss, but I can always tell her I love her and that I am proud of her.”
her full blog is here:
http://au.news.yahoo.com/opinion/post/-/...comment/1/
drama, pathos, blah blah blah.
photo below at the house where Zahra lived. had to get that mic on to spontaneously *sob* properly for the press.
sound check sound checkMonday, Dec. 06, 2010
Emily Dietrich
Emily Dietrich wrote of her final visit to Zahra's memorial: “It was so extremely hard to leave the tree. It was the only connection I had to Zahra and I didn't want to lose her again.
More than three weeks after she visited Hickory to meet police investigating her daughter’s death, Zahra Baker’s biological mother has shared her personal account of the trip.
Emily Dietrich gave $$$$$ the four-day journal entry to News 7 Australia, the TV network that accompanied her to the U.S., and stayed by her side during her most emotional moments.
Dietrich has said she gave up Zahra while suffering from postpartum depression, then spent many of the following years trying to reunite with her daughter.
She had only discovered Zahra’s whereabouts in Hickory three days before she was reported missing.
VERY STRANGE CONSIDERING ZAHRA WAS IN NEWSPAPER ARTICLES AND ON TV AND THE FATHER AND STEPMOTHER WERE ON THE INTERNET ALL OVER THE DAMN PLACE.
Dietrich starts by writing about how nervous she is about the trip that will bring her closer to her daughter, whom she hadn’t seen since the little girl was a toddler.
“I was finally going to be the closest I have been to Zahra since she was just under 2 years old and I took her to the gardens for the day,” she writes. “But I wasn't really going to be any closer to her at all. I wasn't going to be able to hold her again, or tell I love her and I'm proud of the courageous and beautiful young girl she had become.”
The day after arriving in Hickory, Dietrich describes getting up before dawn to visit the memorial at the tree outside Zahra’s home on 21st Avenue NW. She is overcome by emotion at the sight of all of its notes, balloons, and stuffed animals.
"I tried to get out of the car, but my entire body was shaking so much I was having trouble standing," she writes. She is comforted by the notes and expressions of support from so many people, but sickened by the sight of the house where Zahra may have spent her final days.
“She had laughed and cried and grown in this house. She had also been mistreated and abused in this house. She had, by all accounts, been kept like a prisoner in this house,” she recalls. “This house made me so insanely angry, and sick, and lost.”
She is further shaken by her meeting with police later that day. Most of it goes smoothly, but then the investigators’ expressions grew more solemn as they passed a press release to her, detailing what they will tell the media at a press conference. It explains that evidence has been found that could prove Zahra is dead.
"I wanted to scream and cry," she says. "My small piece of hope faded."
Although DNA tests were pending at this point, police were confident that remains of a child found near a creek in Caldwell County belong to Dietrich’s daughter.
Dietrich writes, "I was shaking from head to toe, I wanted to cry so much but, at that point, barely shed a tear.” She goes on, expressing the same anger as many people who have followed the case. “My baby girl was dead, and they had just put her in a hole like a family pet. Who could do such a beastly thing?"
But Dietrich also finds reasons to smile during the trip – a meal at Bojangle’s, getting a woven bracelet like those investigators on Zahra’s case are wearing, spending an evening with a couple who invited her to retreat at their home during her emotionally-draining journey. She is overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and support shown to her and for her daughter.
She makes another visit to the memorial tree, with mixed emotions.
“It was so extremely hard to leave the tree,” she writes. “It was the only connection I had to Zahra and I didn't want to lose her again.”
She goes on. “I just had to take a few deep breaths and remind myself that she wasn't at that tree, it was a place where people could show their love and support.”
Dietrich finally sums up her trip as a soothing one -- one that helps her realize her daughter is finally at peace.
“My search for Zahra was finally over,” she writes. “I may not be able to ever hug her, or give her a kiss, but I can always tell her I love her and that I am proud of her.”
her full blog is here:
http://au.news.yahoo.com/opinion/post/-/...comment/1/