Updated: May 5, 2020
In the early evening on Thursday, June 28, 2007, is a day my siblings and I will never forget. That is the day we found out that our mom was killed. Ryland and I were at home when our granny came to the house. When she got there, she told us to go to her house with her. At that moment, I knew something was not right. When we got to our grandparent's house, we waited for Lizzie and Jeremy to get there. Before they got there, my Uncle Huey was watching the six o clock news when I saw a headline go across the screen that said that a Murder/Suicide had happened in an eighteen-wheeler in Port Allen. At that moment, my heart started to beat fast. I thought this couldn't be my mom. My heart sunk because deep down inside, I knew that was my mom. Once Jeremy and Lizzie got to the house, my grandmother sat us down and told us our mom was killed. I started screaming and crying, saying I'm going to kill him". My grandmother said, "He shot your mom and then killed himself." No one can ever prepare a child for being told that their mom was killed and is not coming back home. We all just cried and comforted each other. What were we going to do without our mom and her special presence? After my siblings and I were able to calm down and talk. Our grandmother asked us how long our mom had been gone. She went to his house the Sunday before after she got off of work as she would sometimes do, and we thought nothing of her being gone for four days because she would go on work trips with him. We never reported her missing because we didn't know she was missing. Instead, she was lying dead with a gunshot wound to the chest in an eighteen-wheeler on the side fo the road. The coroner's office suspected it happened on Monday, and she was found on Thursday, June 28, 2007. The coroner told us that our mom didn't suffer, that she was sleeping when she was shot. They told us that the bullet hit a major artery, and she died instantly. We made arrangements and planned her funeral. I was numb because I couldn't believe that we were planning our mom's funeral so soon. She was only 36 years old and had a lot more living to do. She had four children to live for and see all of us graduate high school, college, get married, and start families of our own. After the funeral was over and the dust settled is when we realized that our mom was gone, and she was never coming back. We have relied on God, family, and friends for support to help us to move on with our lives. Now every year for our mom's birthday, we get together with family and friends and celebrate her life. Now almost 13 years later, it is still not easy, but we have all managed with strength, grace, mercy, and favor from God to move on with our lives and live what I call our new normal after strategy. We thank God for sustaining us and keep us here to fulfill our purpose in life. Psalms 147:3 He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.