Our Story

 Chapter 1: The Beginning of The End

   It was a beautiful sunny day in Texas. Our family was so happy.  We were all together (after finally reuniting after 2 years apart) and had just spent some time visiting San Antonio.  On that gorgeous day, June 12th 2008, we were going home.  I remember waking up to the sound of our children; Ashley, 14, Nicholas, 11, and Jared, 7; laughing in the room that was connected to our hotel room.
  We gathered our stuff, packed the car, and took the kids to the pool before embarking on our drive to the Dallas/ Fort Worth Airport.  Nicholas spotted a lizard and got extremely excited!  He wanted to catch one and bring it home as a pet.  He loved lizards, dragons, and animals in general.  Try as they might the "boys" (including my husband Charles) couldn't get the lizards as they were much too fast. It was such a funny sight watching them laughing and chasing them.  After a quick swim and breakfast we headed out.

  This is where our story changes...
  We were driving down Interstate 35W  I don"t remember exactly how many times we stopped, but we did make a few gas/snack/water/"potty break" stops.  The last stop we made before our lives were shattered forever, I remember standing outside the SUV we had rented and I told Nicholas that I loved him very much and gave him a hug. We got back on the highway...
  My husband Charles was driving, I was in the passenger seat, my daughter Ashley was in the back behind Charles, Jared, my little one, was in the middle, and Nicholas, my "little man", was behind me.We were driving in the right hand lane.  I would say traffic was "moderate" but, up ahead, it became "congested".  We could see for miles ahead as the day was beautiful, and the highway was a straight shot forward.  Up ahead, we saw cars stopping or slowing down so cars from the left hand lane could merge into the right lane since the the left lane was closed down.  We came up on the traffic, and Charles left space for cars in the left lane to get over to the right lane ahead of us.  As we came up on the traffic I remember making the comment "Well at least we left in plenty of time".  We came to a stop and I can still hear my son Nicholas' voice asking Charles "Dad when we get home I am going to teach you how to play chess the professional way, cuz I know how"  Charles was smiling and laughing.
  That's when it happened.  In a matter of seconds our life was destroyed and my little boy was taken from us.  I was looking around as we waited in line for the traffic to move.  All of a sudden I was in some kind of nightmare.  I looked at the passenger side view mirror and then I saw it.  A huge semi-truck was barreling towards us fast.  I turned my head towards my husband and said "I don't think that truck is going to stop!" It was as if I was talking and moving in slow motion.  It just didn't seem real, why wouldn't that truck be slowing down? Suddenly, I remember waking up.  I turned to look where my husband should have been. He was out of the car, he was yelling something but I heard no sound.  In shock and horror I looked around...


 Chapter 2 Coming Soon...

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