To the Editor,

July 17, 2012, is a day forever burned in my memory. On this day I lost my best friend, my husband, my protector, my everything. Life will never be the same, a void will never be filled in my life. The love that he and I shared surpasses any and everything. We have loved each other over half of our lives.I could have never imagined life without him, without the love of my life.

However, in all the days of our mourning we have been uplifted by our city, county, state and overall country. Prayers, hugs, donations, concerns and an overabundance of love is what we have been shown. Words can’t express how much love I feel for my community. People have said for years that communities don’t pull together anymore; my community did and I still feel all the love. I lost someone very special, very important and not only I knew just how special he was.

His work as a Lumberton police officer has spoken for him and he would be very proud of how everyone welcomed his family with open arms and have shown us so much love. Our three children can look back as they grow up and be proud to be a resident of Lumberton, and will also see just how special Daddy was. Life is gonna be tough and the realization that he is never coming home is even tougher, but you all are helping me keep his memory alive. As long as we keep his memory going, he will never be forgotten. Trust me when I say that I can spend the rest of my life saying thank you and it wouldn’t feel like enough.

So please accept this letter as way of saying thank you. Thank you … thank you for the love, support, donations, concerns, prayers and so much more. Thank you for setting an example of love and support for others to follow and exemplifying what a community, what a county should be all about.

Lametria Goodson

Lumberton