Day 3 ........... Up at 8 am ....slept to long....mad that no one woke me... left house went to boat shed... what if he came and I wasn't there..will he forgive me for not taking better care of him..
Chad no where to be found...but she said he will "be found when the sun shines off the metal roof....Rescue begins early...low tide... reports come to find me lots of questions still no answers...
10:30 am..Rick comes to boat shed."Chad has been found" oh praise you Father in heaven for answering my prayer..Is he OK, is he OK?! silence pierced the island...no boat motors, no airplane engines, no helicopters, no sound...Rick calls the family to the porch like a drill Sargent..."can I have your attention? They found Chad...gasp, sighs, tears. He is dead. Screams so loud they echoed across the island...still today..some natives of Wadmalaw say it is a scream they have not forgotten... His body was found a fourth of a mile from where they believe he went in... His boat was found 5 piers down.. they believe the current carried him.... the rescue divers and volunteers seen the dolphins swimming and jumping, a sure sign of a body in those parts.the natives of the island refer to dolphins as the protectors of the sea, they keep the fish, sharks and other sea creatures away...."his body was found near an old boat shed, boat was upside down under the shed, white paint had faded from the years of sitting, and it was at the edge of Bohicket Creek wildlife refugee..." Rick seemed to have lost all emotion...almost angry at me..at God..at me.
Almost minutes after making his announcement of the loss of our son he tells me to get my things we are going home. Home? I'm not ready for home ... his room..his bat..his toys... his smelly t-shirt I took off of him before we left... Gloria insist we stay a little longer for the family to calm... no we are leaving.
The ride home..30 minutes... silence.. me crying..confused I prayed for his safe returned..I promised I would do anything he ask..Why!? Brad is with the family... not sure of what has happened..wants to know why Chad can stay at [Aunt] Glo's and he can't...pouty...mad...
Arrived at the house by noon...family a short distance behind...Rick makes me get out of the car...angry..confused...no emotion..military...men don't cry...men don't show feelings in front of people..wife doesn't understand....the first thing I see as I enter the house is the glass he was drinking from, he had left it on the coffee table...his socks lying next to his play shoes .... his bat he was playing with in the backyard...I laid across my bed clutching the bat remembering the spanking he had gotten that morning....praying to God I would wake up from this nightmare...I never did. Three of the longest days of my life.
It has been 19 years my son has been gone... dreams shattered, hopes gone. Chad was my first born..oh the plans you make..first day of school, first tee ball, little league, baseball coach...first date, first prom, first everything...gone with one unforgettable phone call.."Why don't you and the boys come out to the island and spend the day with me..I could use your help today? And I will fix dinner. Sure we would love too ." ...Never imagining it would change your life forever.. twice. Gloria is not to blame it was her destiny.
God says are days are numbered. He knew before we were born when we will die..the month/day/year. So many times i have wondered through the years what if I had not of
been so quick to say yes to Gloria in her time of need...would this date still have been his
death? Oh the regrets..the guilt...the shame...the years. Chad was flown home to Paragould and his body laid to rest on June 12,1988 Rick's Birthday...at Finch Cemetery.Moral of this Blog:
10:30 am..Rick comes to boat shed."Chad has been found" oh praise you Father in heaven for answering my prayer..Is he OK, is he OK?! silence pierced the island...no boat motors, no airplane engines, no helicopters, no sound...Rick calls the family to the porch like a drill Sargent..."can I have your attention? They found Chad...gasp, sighs, tears. He is dead. Screams so loud they echoed across the island...still today..some natives of Wadmalaw say it is a scream they have not forgotten... His body was found a fourth of a mile from where they believe he went in... His boat was found 5 piers down.. they believe the current carried him.... the rescue divers and volunteers seen the dolphins swimming and jumping, a sure sign of a body in those parts.the natives of the island refer to dolphins as the protectors of the sea, they keep the fish, sharks and other sea creatures away...."his body was found near an old boat shed, boat was upside down under the shed, white paint had faded from the years of sitting, and it was at the edge of Bohicket Creek wildlife refugee..." Rick seemed to have lost all emotion...almost angry at me..at God..at me.
Almost minutes after making his announcement of the loss of our son he tells me to get my things we are going home. Home? I'm not ready for home ... his room..his bat..his toys... his smelly t-shirt I took off of him before we left... Gloria insist we stay a little longer for the family to calm... no we are leaving.
The ride home..30 minutes... silence.. me crying..confused I prayed for his safe returned..I promised I would do anything he ask..Why!? Brad is with the family... not sure of what has happened..wants to know why Chad can stay at [Aunt] Glo's and he can't...pouty...mad...
Arrived at the house by noon...family a short distance behind...Rick makes me get out of the car...angry..confused...no emotion..military...men don't cry...men don't show feelings in front of people..wife doesn't understand....the first thing I see as I enter the house is the glass he was drinking from, he had left it on the coffee table...his socks lying next to his play shoes .... his bat he was playing with in the backyard...I laid across my bed clutching the bat remembering the spanking he had gotten that morning....praying to God I would wake up from this nightmare...I never did. Three of the longest days of my life.
It has been 19 years my son has been gone... dreams shattered, hopes gone. Chad was my first born..oh the plans you make..first day of school, first tee ball, little league, baseball coach...first date, first prom, first everything...gone with one unforgettable phone call.."Why don't you and the boys come out to the island and spend the day with me..I could use your help today? And I will fix dinner. Sure we would love too ." ...Never imagining it would change your life forever.. twice. Gloria is not to blame it was her destiny.
God says are days are numbered. He knew before we were born when we will die..the month/day/year. So many times i have wondered through the years what if I had not of
been so quick to say yes to Gloria in her time of need...would this date still have been his
death? Oh the regrets..the guilt...the shame...the years. Chad was flown home to Paragould and his body laid to rest on June 12,1988 Rick's Birthday...at Finch Cemetery.Moral of this Blog:
"The righteous(and the young) pass away, the Godly die before their time. No one seems to care or wonder why.No one seems to understand that God is protecting them from the evil to come and the Godly (young) who die will rest in peace." NLT ...of the comfort of God's word
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