'Taken'

So I finally saw “Taken” this weekend, the Liam Neeson flick about a 17-year-old girl who is abducted and sold into the seedy European sex trade.

I have not slept well since watching this movie.

It’s a great movie, don’t get me wrong. But as a mother, the thought of having a child abducted and forced to become a drugged-out prostitute in a foreign country is too much to think about.

As I watched the movie, I realized that I live in a bubble where I don’t have to see these things and don’t spend time pondering the evils of society. I’m grateful for that fact, to be honest. Maybe I’m naive or shallow or stupid, but I like my bubble.

But after watching “Taken,” I can’t stop thinking about all the girls and all the parents who are actually in this situation. And unlike superstar Liam Neeson, they can’t karate-chop and shoot their way across Europe to save their children.

Hopefully, this isn’t a topic with which many of you have first-hand experience, but I’d like to hear your thoughts. If your child is taken, what can you do? How do you get up every day not knowing where they are? Can you ever have closure?

What would you do if your child were abducted? Can you prevent your child from being taken in the first place?