Hurting hearts...

My heart has been hurting the last few days after finding out about the loss of my son Cole's Uncle Richie. We were in Southaven, Ms. when we found out. Cole's sister Rachael had tried to get in touch with us but I didn't get the voicemail until 2 days later. The way we found out about it was when my daughter was looking at her 'myspace' and one of her friends had it on their page. We found out right before we were going to Cole and Shanna's baby shower. We didn't tell Cole until that night because we didn't want to tell him before the shower. Christy and I decided to stay another night at the hotel so that we could be there for Cole when we told him. This has really hurt Cole and I am so glad that we were there for him. He and Richie were close. They sent messages back and forth on their myspaces often. This was the only picture that I had of Richie. He was only around 14 years old here holding Cole and with his arm around me. Everyone always called him "Richie Rich". He was only 32 years old. He has a precious little girl...Haley Gabrielle. Tomorrow is his funeral. Cole is so upset that he can't come.

His mother and I have always been close and always will be. I never married her son (Cole's dad) but she has always been like a mother-in-law to me. She is my friend and I love her. Please pray for her and her husband as they go through this painful time.