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On January 07, 1987 God gave two simple people the most precious gift that is available on this side of heaven.  He gave us a beautiful baby boy that would become the center of our universe.  We would sit around and watch him and just stare at this perfect little being. 

During Coady’s baby years, he was just full of life, he loved animals, loved to fish like a big boy, loved shoes, I have never seen a little boy be so fascinated with shoes, and to the end of his short life he still had more shoes than some girls I know….HE LOVED SHOES!!  As he got a little older, he loved sports, ALL sports!!!  Didn’t find one that he didn’t like!!  Coady’s Dad helped coach his peewee teams and then some years he would play on his team, then go play on the older boys team if they were short a player.  It felt like we spent the summer either at the ball park or at the pool.  Coady was a little fish, he loved to swim almost as much as he loved sports. 

School during the elementary years was so exciting and funny.  He was such a smart and loving little boy.  We were blessed in the fact that most of his teachers were classmates of mine that had gone to school and became teachers at our home town.  So needless to say, he was always taken care of. 

When we moved to Russellville he adjusted quickly to a larger school and new friends, it was an adjustment for us all from going to knowing every child and their parents to knowing no one.  In no time he had friends coming and going.  Then his Dad and I turned around and he was in Junior High, playing sports and picking up a new hobby….RODEO…..now talking about scary…I was never so scared in my life watching Coady climb on a huge horse and the thought of it trying to throw him off was more than I could watch.  I never opened my eyes, I would just wait for the buzzer to go off and know that I could open them then.  I don’t know how I got so many pictures of him during riding, although there are a lot of them that Joe had to take. 

Then came the time when he was old enough to drive.  I never felt so emotional when we gave him his first truck.  I thought my heart would burst with the pride that my baby had reached another milestone in his life, but it was breaking because I felt that I was losing my baby to his independence and that I wouldn’t be needed any more.  Up until then, it had been a never ending race getting him from here to there, one thing to another and I thought that I would be happy when he would be able to drive himself, but when the time actually came, I was having second thoughts…We always kidded Coady that he would never have his truck long because we thought he would have a wreck before it would wear out.  He proved us wrong and took pretty good care of it. 

Then came Prom and graduation.  I don’t think I had ever been so proud of anything in my life.  I looked at our son and watched him receive his diploma and knew he was starting another new chapter in his life.  My heart filled with pride and I thought my heart would burst.  Then on his way the day after graduation, he was on his way to spend some of his graduation money and a lady in front of him caused a wreck and caused him to rear end another vehicle and total the truck that he had driven and taken care of for over 2 years. 

After a few months without wheels, we bought him another vehicle and along with it came a payment book and responsibility.  Then came a job, then another and another as he struggled with trying to decide what path in life he wanted to take.  He never lost his sense of humor in all his decision making and changing of jobs, and one thing that was certain, job or not, it was not going to interfere with his love to fish and hunt.  I can truly say he was ALL boy in that aspect.  He would rather hunt or fish any day than eat,  just about.

He could eat!!!  He never lost his love of chocolate gravy and biscuits, and we went thru a year or so of nothing but Arby’s, then Taco’s, and right before Thanksgiving of 2006, he and I had started going out on Mom and son dates once a week and I will never forget eating with him one nite and just watching him order his meal and talk about what I had ordered was the same thing his ex-girlfriend had ordered the last time they had ate at this particular restaurant.  We talked of his goals and ambitions and things that had happened in past, and I looked at my little man and realized that he wasn’t my little man any more he was a young man, and as I watched him I thought of one day I would be sitting here with my son and daughter-in-law, and then maybe another day I would sit here with my son, daughter-in-law, and grandbabies….my heart filled with joy at the thought of loving little minature Coady’s.  I started kidding him about grandbabies and daughter-in-law, he would just mutter and mumble and say something smart about he wasn’t ready to settle down..  Needless to say, Momma realized that her baby was a man of his own making.  Talk about hard to handle. 

Christmas came and went in 2006, and I will never forget us sitting around and talking and my brother wanting to take photos of us one evening as we all sit around playing videos and opening presents.  I was kidding him that I didn’t want my picture made in my pj’s and we would get them later. Later never came for us, we got busy in the events of Christmas and we never sat down to take those photos. 

Coady’s 20th birthday rolled around and he was excited about in the spring becoming a salesman at the dealership that he worked for.  I could see another door to his life opening and another chapter starting.  Life was going to be so good. 

Then on January 16, 2007 he was robbed of any more chapters in his book of life by a lazy bum that wanted to be a gang banger.  Coady was robbed of his future, we were robbed of our son, a future  daughter-in-law,  future grandbabies and a wonderful smile that could light up a room and could melt your heart.  He lost his life being a friend to someone else and being in the wrong place at the wrong time.  There just isn’t words to express how empty our lives are or how broken our hearts. 

We know he is with God and we will see him again.  That is the only comfort that we have, knowing that this is just a temporary absence, we will all be together again and our hearts will be healed.  But until then, we will remember him with our pictures and stories that we will share, we will cry tears together and share laughs at happy times that we have had. 

His smile will live forever in our hearts and our love for our “little man”  will continue to grow until we meet again.