Willie L. Durden III

It seems like yesterday that Willie was in my kitchen asking me, "What's for dinner Ms. Kim? I know you cookin' somethin' good (rubbing his hands together and smiling).
We had one of the dishes Willie used to ask me to make the other night, home-made shrimp fried rice and teri-yaki chicken. It made the kids think of him and we started imitating some of the things that he did to make us laugh. Shane was here using Willie's favorite saying, "What's up 'mom dukes'; and all I could do was...

It will soon be 2 years that God took you away and put you with his angels. You are never forgotten and always in our mind. We love you dearly and you are greatly missed. Love Durden Family

This is a sad day for us. Today we realized that it should have been your 19th Birthday. But, God called you home for a bigger Birthday party.We miss you. We Love you and will always carry that special torch in our hearts for you. You live on in memories and in spirit in our hearts and our lives.

Happy Birthday P.J.

Auntie Linda
Lil. Wee
Dale
Trinity
Nya
Auntie Cent
Uncle Frank
Philip
Rae'fiel
Auntie Connie
Kiesha
Jr.
Cyrne
Grandma...

P.J. You are so greatly missed by a lot of people, but no one knows the pain that your family feels inside. As I read your guest book I am reading a lot of condolences to your mom & brother, but as you know you have a father that loves you so dearly. He misses you and still talks about you. He misses the visits that Ashley (your sister), Robert (your brother), Robbin (step-mom), and himself use to take to come see you every weekend. He misses the times that they came and you and him played...

November 19, 2006
(An Open Letter To Our Son)

Dear P.J.,
Little did we know when we went to bed that Wednesday night, Thursday morning, October 13,2005, would change our lives forever. God in His infinite wisdom and divine love looked down, stretch forth His hand and said, "Come, be with Me, my son!"
Each morning when I awake
I know that you are gone.
And no one knows the heartache
as I try to carry on.
My heart still aches with sadness
and secret tears still...

As I look back over Your Life. I still find it hard to believe you're gone.I think about the talks we had. I think about the promises we made to each other.I think about the day you were born. I think about the last conversation we had and what a man you had truly become. I think about the last thing I said to you that life was about choices as I saw you begin to make the right choices. You realized your mistakes and you begin to change and take resposibility for your actions. I remember your...

As I was sitting in class yesterday, thinking about the date. It dawned on me that it was the 1 year anniversery of Willie's passing. I wrote him a letter and I wanted to share it with everyone.

It was exactly one year ago when you left us.It doesnt even seem like that long ago that you left but finally, 365 days later the time has come to sit back and think and reflect upon how much your missed dearly. Life hasn't been the same without you. Lord knows that. Its like people...

Son, as your mother I have been blessed to witness a lot of firsts for you: your first cry, your first smile, your first step, your first hug, your first day of school, your first time on the football field, your first interception, your first school dance, your first day behind the wheel, your first job, your first paycheck, your first night away from home and now…I’m experiencing the first anniversary of your death. One year ago today, my world changed forever, my family decreased in size...