Beth Twitty speaks at a prayer breakfast in Birmingham

Twitty's quest taps emotions


Fallen Marine also saluted at Hoover prayer breakfast
Saturday, May 13, 2006

DAWN KENTNews staff writer

A mother's search for her daughter and a fallen Marine's unrealized dream took center stage Friday at the 24th annual Hoover Mayor's Prayer Breakfast at the Wynfrey Hotel.
Many in the crowd of nearly 700 wiped away tears as guest speaker Beth Holloway Twitty of Mountain Brook recounted daughter Natalee Holloway's disappearance in Aruba last year and her family's quest for answers.
Along the way, prayers from people across Birmingham and the world have given them hope, she said.
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"Hope is always there for us. Sometimes we forget to embrace it," she said. "My prayer for you is that you will let hope find you today."
Mayor Tony Petelos and the city's police department also honored Ryan Winslow, a Hoover Marine killed in Iraq in April. Winslow had planned, after completing his service, to return home and become a Hoover police officer.
During the breakfast, Police Chief Nick Derzis named Winslow an honorary Hoover police officer. Derzis gave a framed certificate, a badge, police patches and a commission card to Winslow's family.
Before Twitty's speech, she showed a video that featured pictures of her daughter and the investigation into her disappearance, which has been chronicled in international media reports. Holloway disappeared last May during a graduation trip.
In the days following her daughter's disappearance, Twitty recalled going to a chapel that sat on an Aruba hillside lined with white crosses. She knelt at each cross and prayed, begging God to return her daughter. She felt an overwhelming peace and knew that God had wrapped his arms around Natalee, she said.
Since then, her family has experienced an outpouring of love from all over, she said, through letters, gifts and prayers.
Twitty said the gestures have known no religious or denominational boundaries, and she has worn the Star of David alongside rosary beads.
"I never thought twice about what religion was what," she said. "I embraced all religions and denominations that embraced me.

WISHING YOU A WONDERFUL MOTHERS DAY BETH !