Please Say a Prayer for Tory Today...

Today...

was supposed to be her

wedding day.

I know it's going to be a tough one

for her.

We are back from the funeral.

These last 2 weeks have been

the saddest weeks of all my 49 years.

Chris' remains being pulled by horse and cart

through town from the funeral home

to the high school 

where the funeral was going to be.

Tory is the one all in black on the right hand side of the picture.

I cannot begin to tell you how touching and humbling this whole experience was for us.

Chris' family enveloped Tory as their own...

and the whole town embraced her too.

So many people came up to me and said how impressed they were with her

and how that she was part of their town now. She was family.

Chris' father introduced her to everyone as their daughter-in-law...

not Chris' fiance.

Throughout the whole viewing and funeral,

his parents were by her side,

hugging her, holding her up,

and truly showing her what family is all about.

Chris' mom told me that on Monday

when Tory first walked into the viewing room 

and saw Chris,

that she literally fell to the ground weeping and sobbing

uncontrollably. 

The next day was the viewing for everyone else.

When we came in,

it was all I could do myself to hold it together

to see that dear boy

lying there,

gone from us.

Chris' parents

made us come over and sit with them throughout 

the whole viewing and throughout the funeral.

His dad said to us,

"Your family too."

I was amazed at the funeral, when the minister said about

half way through...

 "Now Tory is going to have a few words to say."

I sat there weeping 

as my little girl got up

in front of thousands of people...

walked to the podium

in her grief...

and spoke to the crowd of her love for Chris,

and her devastation of him being taken from her.

From there,

the body was loaded back onto the cart,

and literally thousands of people

walked behind the horse and cart

from the school to the graveyard.

The Patriot Guard were one of the most touching things to witness.

Not only were they there standing all through the funeral,

but also the day of the viewing,

they all stood out there in front of the funeral home

with their flags for hours...

as everyone came in 

to pay their last respects.

Although hard...

this experience has touched me in a way

that nothing else ever has.

Amongst great sorrow,

we witnessed what Small Town America

is really about.

And it is nothing short of awe-inspiring.

Yellow ribbons lined the trees and poles....

hundreds of flags were lining streets, homes, places of business...

banners, posters, handmade signs,

were made

welcoming home their home town hero.

Hotels and bed and breakfasts

put all of us up free of charge for however long

we needed to be there...

served us breakfasts,

and grieved right along with us...

We are now safely home but...

today we are especially feeling our loss...

simply because we were supposed to be having a celebration

of the joining of these two lives.

But we know time will heal...

God will heal...

and life will go on.

I can't thank you enough for all the prayers uttered on our behalf these last two weeks.

I know it was 'prayer' that was holding us all up,

when the sorrow was just to great to bear.

Humbly my friends,

from my heart...

may our great God bless you all for coming through in our time of need.

Love....