I’ve been a ball of emotions these past few days. I’m grateful to God for all the great things He continues to do in the lives of me and my family — but right before Thanksgiving, we were hit with devastating news.

I’ve been a ball of emotions these past few days. I’m grateful to God for all the great things He continues to do in the lives of me and my family — but right before Thanksgiving, we were hit with devastating news.

While my wife and I were preparing food for our holiday celebration, we received the call that our 19-year-old Goddaughter had passed away suddenly. She was beautiful, intelligent, and incredibly sweet. One of the most meaningful parts of my wife’s pregnancy with our son Thomas was sharing that journey with her best friend, Darlene Nance-Sykes, who was pregnant with Xia at the same time. Our kids are barely a month apart, and we were blessed to share so much of Xia’s life.

Our hearts are forever broken by this tragedy, but we are choosing to focus on celebrating the life of this beautiful soul whom we were honored to call our Goddaughter.