Community shows love at time of grief

By Wayne and Vicky Shockley

On March 11, our daughter was lost in a tragic fire in Cape Girardeau. There is no loss greater than the loss of a child.

As many of the cards and letters have states, there are no words that can describe what one feels when this type of tragedy hits a family and a community.

There is only one thing that helps us through this loss, and that's our faith in God and the love this community has shared with us. We and Trina's little sister, Cori, have been truly blessed to be in a community such as this one. The outpouring of love and sincere affection that has been shared with us this past week has been truly amazing. Every prayer, every hug and every tear that you share continue to lift our hearts.

When we moved into this area two years ago, we felt that God led us to this place. We looked around and agreed this is where we wanted to raise our then 7-year-old child, Cori. Trina joined us here just over a year ago and continued her work toward and elementary teaching degree at Southeast Missouri State University.

There is no way on this side of heaven to stop the pain that comes with this kind of loss. But the love that has been placed on us through our friends and this entire community has shielded as much of that pain from us as is humanly possible. Love and faith in Christ have strengthened us daily.

Many of you have told us that we have been strong. If you look at us and see strength, then look at yourselves. You all have given us this strength through your prayers. Look closely when you look at our family and you will see that God has his arms wrapped tightly around us. He is using all of you to help.

Our immediate family lives back East in Delaware and Maryland. The love was so evident to them that they were able to return to their homes with the peace and comfort that we would be very cared for by our new family here. As soon as they arrived here, they could feel how loving and caring this community is. They also felt great comfort for us as they watched our friends where we work care for us.

We cannot begin to describe how much they have helped us.

We could write forever to try to express how blessed and thankful we are to all the people in this community. Just as we have said there are no words to describe the pain, there equally are no words to describe how blessed we feel to have all of you around us.

God bless you all.

Wayne and Vicky Shockley of Jackson are the parents of Katrina M. Krumrie, who died in a Cape Girardeau house fire.