by Nunya Carley

Created on: February 28, 2007   Last Updated: May 09, 2007

Lately I, along with millions of other Americans, have been engrossed with the broad spectrum of news coverage chronicling the aftermath of Anna Nicole's death. A train wreck, a bimbo, a drug addict, a loving mother; no one seems to be short of some type of opinion on this reality TV starlet.

Tomorrow justices from the Fourth District Court of Appeals will hear arguments from the lawyers of all three main players; Virgie Arthur, Howard K Stern, and Larry Birkhead. In the beginning it seemed that Birkhead and Arthur were a united front, but apparently that is not the case. Both Stern & Birkhead want her buried in the Bahamas, and the mother still vies for Texas.

The question I have is this; how could any judge rule against the known and written wishes of an adult? There is a will dated July 30, 2001 naming Howard K Stern as executor, and signed by both Kimberly Walther, Anna's former assistant, and James Khavarian, who was mysteriously suspended from practicing law soon after witnessing the signing. There is also the burial plot that she chose to bury her son in, with three empty plots intended for herself, Dannielynn, and Howard Stern.

Having watched the "Anna Nicole Smith" reality show, I feel comfortable in saying a few things that were obvious from observation. Anna, or Vicki Lynn Marshall, was a strong willed - free spirit. She felt, and expressed to the public, a strong hatred for her mother, Virgie Arthur. Equally as publicized was the may she treated her longtime lawyer/friend/companion Howard K Stern. He was there to serve her, and to supply her many wants.

If Anna wanted the prescription drugs, which seems to be at the forefront of recent discussion, she would obtain them. Howard got them for her, her assistant Kimberly Walther had gotten them for her, and who knows how many others made that trip to the pharmacy when she asked. Let's all remember - she was a starlet. Anna was envied by woman and obsessed over by men, and she typically got what she wanted. The thought that Howard K Stern, or any other man, was in control of her is laughable. The idea that her estranged mother may have any say in her burial or child's future is frightening.

Hopefully by the end of this week we, the intent viewers, will learn the outcome of these court proceedings. Hopefully they will safeguard her rights as an adult. Sadly, there are no instances of Virgie Arthur showing concern for her daughter - when Anna was alive. No attempted committals, not even an intervention. Perhaps if there had been then Virgie would have one leg to stand on in court - but there is not.

I would like to end this with an opinion of my own. If any judge rules in favor of the mother, against the wishes of Anna, an adult, then it will be a colossal miscarriage of justice. We live in a society that believes one of the perks of turning into an adult is the fact that we make our own choices. Many of us make plans for our death, and pay for the incurred costs - to protect our loved ones from making the hard decisions or getting saddled with the costs.

It is disturbing to think that a parent can change our wishes, because they want something different - regardless of our laid out plans that may even already be paid for. If Anna's body gets sent to Texas, against her publicized wishes, I will be telling all of my loved ones to rethink their funeral plans, and get a refund if possible because, after all, our wishes will no longer be relevent.

So now we will have to wait, watch, and hope that what Howard Stern said doesn't come true, "I feel like Anna Nicole has been raped."

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