Generally I try to post light hearted material to market our business in this blog. Today it is a little different, so if you prefer not to read something more on the personal side, you may want to skip to a different blog.
Twenty nine days ago, my daughter died. Whitney Lynn DeBord-Wilkinson was 35 years old, a veterinary technician, wife, and mother of two beautiful children.
As a business owner, we have not shared this with our guests who visit the Bed & Breakfast, primarily so we don’t burden them while they are on their vacation and we do not want to seek sympathy from them. We are not really discussing this with new friends yet. We realize it takes courage to express to someone who has lost a dear one that you are “sorry” and people want to find words that can be comforting. The difficulty in “accepting” the words of comfort is that nothing will change the reality of the loss. Up until now, it has been too hard to discuss. We are just taking one step at a time. And we are trying to breathe. Thank-you for understanding that we are not “hiding” this but in time, we can come up with new answers to new questions like” “Do you all have children?” *
For now, having this B & B is a blessing and a distraction.
We want to thank those who have wanted to reach out, but instead, gave us time to process and make some tough decisions regarding our beautiful granddaughter Destiny and growing super grandson Gabe. Quentin is a great dad and has kept Gabe in a routine. For now, Destiny is still with us, as she is every summer. We have been distracting ourselves with activities such as taking local field trips, learning to water ski, Destiny taking guitar lessons, a visit from Baby Gabe, visiting Uncle Mike and his wonder dog Ax,
and a trip to see Jack’s 96-year-old mother in Tennessee on her birthday.
We have received gifts of live plants and nearly 150 caring cards of sympathy, each with a comforting message.
Our beautiful niece. who was very close to Whitney, has established a fund that will be seed money to a trust fund for the children, and the animal hospital where she worked has started a memorial fund called “Whitney’s fund” to care for indigent animals.
*So back to that question, do you have children? Why, yes we do. We have my son, Shawn, who he has two beautiful children; we have Jack’s daughter Jennifer who has two beautiful children. We have our son-in-law, Quentin who has super boy, Gabe but also Adrian. We have Scott, my step son who has two grown children. Then I always include my loving niece Katie and my caring nephew Garrett, who has 4 daughters. There is my sister’s vibrant son, Tony plus more extended family who are all supporting us and Destiny, Whitney’s only daughter.
We feel your prayers and we feel God’s grace placed in our lives even before we knew we would need it. We are moving forward one step at a time.