Richard William LaTrace Jr.

Dear Richard:

I can't believe that you have been gone almost a year now and that I am just as sad as the day you left. I have your pictures that you left me in different rooms of the house. I cry always when I see them. You will always be my number l son. Mom

Happy New Year Richard, We thank of you everyday. We wish you were here with us in flesh, we know that you're here in spirit. We go to your grave site all the time. You finally have your headstone. We truelly do miss you man & love you!!

Dear Richard:

Well another month has gone by without you being here. I am still just as sad as the day you left us. Sometimes I just can't grasp that you will not be driving up or calling me on the phone. I can still see you standing by your truck that last time I saw you. I guess it will forever haunt me when I go by Brunos. At least now I know you are safe with God and that someday I will see you again.

Love, Mom

My love:

I miss you terribly. I still can't believe you have left us. The last 13 months of your life came and went so fast. Sometimes I just sit and stare into space thinking about you and the good times we shared. Sometimes it's a song on the radio that makes me cry or I wake up to a dream that you are still here but had just gone away for a while, like the dream I had last night. I picked you up and we were together again. Sometimes I come across things that you gave me or...

We are sad that we never had an opportunity to get to know you, Richard, as we still remember the delightful towhead with the prolific vocabulary when you were a youngster. Your parents cherished your bright mind, articulate ability to communicate and your impassioned curiosity about life. But we moved to another state and didn't see you while you were growing up. Our hearts were touched later by your loss of freedom as we know you had so much to achieve in life with so much dynamic...

Dear Richard:

Well another month is almost gone and I still cry and miss you every day. I know that you are in God's hands and are safe now. But that doesn't help the fact that I miss you so much. Love, Mom

Dear Richard:

Well it is the 4th of July already and you have been gone from our lives four and one half months. I do miss you so much son and wish that you were still here. I know that you are in a better place now living with God. You will always be my number one son. Love, Mom

Dear Richard:

One year ago today we were together on the beach in Pensacola, FL. I remember that it had been a long time since you had seen the ocean. You were like a kid in a candy store jumping around in the water and diving into the waves. We relaxed and slept in the sand under an umbrella and with your feet hanging out all day, they ended up badly sun burned. I still have a bag full of beach sand and all the sea shells we collected together. I had so much fun with you that...