Hi everyone. I am Tammy Gilkey Hester. By the grace of God, I was given two beautiful boys. Lee and Brandon. My relationship with them is amazing. Lee would have been 24 and Brandon is 18 and ready for college. Two weeks before the death of my son, I told my husband we were going to lose someone really close to us. The day before the accident, I sat in Lee's lap and told him what he meant to me and how I loved him. I left the drive, to find myself coming back and getting out not once but twice and kiss and hug him. The last thing I said was I love you. We were so close. He was so full of life. He touched so many people I never knew. God knew I was going to need that moment with Lee.

He was driving his best friend because his friend had been drinking. As he topped a hill, the truck hit an embankment and killed Lee instantly. His friend survived. Never once have I questioned God. This was his plan from the beginning. I pray each day for God to use this to glorify him. Use me in the ways to help others. I truly believe Lee's life had purpose and is continuing to touch others. I lost one child, but gained a hundred new kids in my life. They all check on me, call me, cry with me, mostly they keep Lee's memory alive. He will never be IV gotten.

There are days I wake and think...this is not my life. How did I get to this place in my life. Without my child. The pain is so deep sometimes I cant cry and other times I cant stop.The pain in my heart, my soul, and mind is unspeakable and unbelievable.

Everyday God puts someone in my path to either comfort me or for me to comfort them. He is amazing. If we only let him lead us and carry us through the valley of death.

We have one chance to teach our kids what being saved and washed of the blood to have their name in the Lambs book of Life. My Lee was in that book and is in Heaven as we speak.

Each day I wake is a gift. God loved me so much to bless me with Brandon and Lee. When I get to Heaven , Lee will be the first I run to.

Please keep me in your prayers and thank you Lisa for this opportunity. Love you . Tammy

Introducing...

Hello friends...

I want to introduce my sweet friend, Tammy Gilkey, who lost her son, Lee, last year, to a terrible accident. I will let her share her story but I wanted to introduce her to this site as she and I are going to join forces to reach out to other mothers, families and friends who have lost someone close their hearts.
I am sure you will all love her as much as I do and see her heart within the first two sentences that she may type...
She has a deep desire to reach out and to help other mothers who have had to endure the same hurt that she has had to experience every day of her life since Lee went on to be with the Lord.
Your heart will break by her tragedy but at the same time you will be uplifted by her faith and her desire to honor God and her son's legacy...
WELCOME TAMMY and thank you for coming on board and sharing your story. I know you will be a blessing to each and every one reads our blog, as you are to me.
I love ya girl!

On the way home tonight, I was listening to Focus on the Family and I heard an interview with Carol Kent. I heard her story at a Women of Faith conference a few years ago. Talk about a woman of faith! And a mother's whose world was turned upside down... Her son was not taken from her by death but by other horrifying circumstances. Through her journey, she has written two remarkable books that I believe would truly be helpful to anyone who has suffered tragedy in their lives....

Check it out.... Feel free to leave your thoughts....

http://www.carolkent.com/

I wanted to put a disclaimer out there... this site is not designed to be sad. Quite the opposite. It is designed to remember the good times, to keep the memory alive of those who lived so vibrantly for the time that we had them... It is to lean on each other when we are not strong and share when we are encouraged...

Their deaths were tragic and that is sad. Nothing can take that away but my 'joy comes in the morning' (Psalm 30:5) Their lives were amazing. Their lives were a joy! Embrace that joy and share it with others... Introduce that smile, that gleam in their eye or talent or just that simple gesture that you remember or miss the most.

Pray for and encourage each other.

This is an idea that I have had for a while now that I was recently inspired to go ahead and act on... I pray this is just the beginning of great things.

As I was watching a video where a dear friend was 'spotlighted' for her 'good works', something her husband said hit me like a ton of bricks... he said that "most people just have ideas, but she acts on them". WOW! Ok, I am not even in the same caliber of my dear friend Kelly however, if everyone acted on a great idea to help one another in this crazy world we live in, imagine the blessings! It reminds me of "Each One, Reach One in the Purpose Driven Life Study with Rick Warren. (Speaking of Kelly - Commercial Break - go to http://www.ordinaryhero.org/)

Ok... Back to our program... ;)

My goal is to Honor, Remember and Respect... Those who have gone on to be with the Lord, much too young, much too soon, and their families and those who love them and are left here on this earth to ask the questions of why?

I can tell you that there was a time in my life when I was privileged to work with a group of teen moms (TeenMOPS). I believe those girls taught me as much as I hope I taught them. But when they would ask me questions that I couldn't answer, I would always respond with "The only thing that I want to take with me when I die is my list of questions"....

It had been 19 years ago this past March 15th that our dear friend Peaches Menser went to be with the Lord (just days before turning 18). It rocked our worlds. 4 months and 5 days later, Jennifer Humphries, (also 18) joined Peaches in Heaven. Who would have ever thought 2 girls from the same "group" would share the same destiny? Who would have thought that "we" would have to go through anything else..... Hadn't our other friend gone through enough, just a couple of years before, to cover us?

This blog is designed to let families, friends and others know that you have love and support from so many, just like you, and your young loved ones did not die in vain. They are as alive today, in our hearts and memories, as they were the day they left this world and as believers and followers of Christ, we WILL see them again.