It’s been a year…

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Wow! I can’t believe it’s already been a year since my world was turned upside down. August 30, 2014, the Sheriff pulled up at my house to tell me that Vlad had been involved in an accident coming home from prison that Saturday. It was a road he had traveled hundreds of times on Saturday mornings to minister to the prisoners in Clifton, TN. My worst nightmare came true that day when I was told Vlad didn’t make it. He had been killed instantly from head trauma. That weekend was a blur, people coming and going and saying things to me. It was all a dream. This couldn’t really have happened. My 6 kids ranging from 1 1/2 – 8 years old were now fatherless and I was a widow. It was like something you read that happens to “other people” but you never can imagine the heartache that comes from something like that happening to you and your kids.

A year later, Vlad’s passing is still surreal a lot of the time for me. He was such an integral part of our every day lives since he worked from home most of the 11 years we were married. This allowed him to be home with the kids and I most of the time. To have him suddenly never coming home again was a blow that has been difficult to get used to. The kids and I are doing better than we deserve. Vlad’s legacy lives on in his children and they carry part of him in their looks and personalities. He is missed every day and he will never be forgotten. The youngest two – Sapphire and Phinehas will not remember their time with their father here on earth, but we keep his memory alive through pictures and memories. God has been the “Father of the fatherless and a judge of the widows” as He promises in His Word. He has never failed to care for us and remind us He loves us, even on the darkest days.

He provided another husband for me and father for the kids, as was always Vlad’s wish. He told me countless times during our 11 years together that if something were ever to happen to him, he wanted me to re-marry. God provided for that in the form of John Walker. He has been “hanging around” and a part of our family for the past 8 years (since Jasmine was a baby). In a sense, Vlad mentored his predecessor, without even realizing it. John has always considered us “his family” and loved our kids as if they were his own. Now, he continues to love them, and takes very seriously his role as their father. They love him and continually tell me they are thankful John is here so they can have a “new daddy.” He has provided stability for our home, loving the kids and I through the worst time of our life.

Vlad was a great man who loved his God, his wife and his kids. He had more focus on what was eternally important than most people attain in a lifetime, even though he was only on earth 41 years. His heart was for people. He loved to study the Word and share what he learned with others motivating them to study as well. God had done a great work in his life from the fatherless Dominican boy who came to the US at the age of 11 not knowing a word of English.

I will never understand why Vlad was here on earth such a short time, when he still had so much he wanted to do for God. But I do know that he is presently enjoying his God and talking to all the great “men of faith” in Heaven. He had so much he wanted to ask them.

I pray through this website to share some of our memories of the one we loved and lost along with Vlad’s sermons and studies so his legacy can continue to touch lives.

Messages and memories.