For Kala....

I want to take a moment to talk about a recent tragedy that has greatly affected our community. On Tuesday, April 17^th, Kala Golden Schuchardt was going about her everyday life, doing what every mother in the world has done countless times, taking her infant son, Keegan, to the pediatrician’s office for a checkup. Once the appointment was over, she gathered up her precious boy, her purse, a diaper bag, a car seat, all the accessories of a new mommy, and headed out into the parking lot towards her truck.  She was probably wondering what she was going to cook for dinner, or what errands she had to run, or how lucky she was that her little boy was healthy and thriving.  Just a normal day.  A day that each of us, as parents, have had. 

When Kala got to her truck, she was confronted by a woman with whom she had never spoken before, never seen before; a woman she never knew existed.  That woman was 30 year old, Licensed Vocational Nurse, Verna McClain. 

Without warning, Verna McClain shot Kala several times in the chest, grabbed baby Keegan, and sped away from the site in a blue Lexus.  With her dying breath, with bullet holes in her chest, this amazing mother, daughter, wife and friend, pulled herself up and tried to chase after Verna McClain, while screaming for help. Screaming the same words over, and over again “My baby, my baby, my baby”.  Words that no mother ever wants to scream in desperation.  Words that no mother ever wants to scream in horror.  Words that no mother wants to scream in anguish, pain or panic.

The last words Kala spoke before she died were for her three day old son, Keegan.  They were a plea, a prayer, a hope, a desperate demand to God, The Universe, The Laws of Karma, to any and every deity, belief structure, or supernatural entity, that some way, somehow, against terrifying odds, that her baby boy would be okay.  She screamed for her son from the very depths of her soul….and then she died.

It started out as a normal day for Kala’s husband, Keith as well.  A normal day that every father and husband has had.  A day that he never, in the furthest regions of his imagination, thought would end in being told that his wife was dead and his son was missing.  He never thought that a seemingly normal day would end with a SWAT team looking for, and thankfully, finding his infant son.  He never thought his normal day would end by trying to explain to his children, his family, his in-laws, that the woman they all knew and loved was killed while trying to protect her baby boy.

The horror of this is almost too much to comprehend.  The thought that any one of us could be going about the minutia of everyday life, only to end up dead and our child missing because of the actions of someone we have never met, is just too much.  The thought that we could wake up one morning, go about our normal routine and then get a phone call that our spouse was dead and our child was missing...it’s just…..too much.

This time it isn’t just a blurb on a news program or a headline in the newspaper, it’s real, it has happened.  This time it happened in my community to people I know, and that hurts my heart in a way I didn’t expect.  How many times have we all heard stories like that and said “Oh, that’s terrible” and never given it a second thought?  Let’s start giving it a second thought

.

Hug your kids tighter.  Tell your family how much you love them.  Tell someone who has made an impact on your life that they matter to you.  Be a little kinder.  Be a quicker to forgive.  You never know when your normal day, or the normal day of someone in your community is about to go horribly, tragically, wrong.

Keegan, I hope you will always know that your momma fought like hell for you.  Keith, I hope that you’ll eventually find peace.  Kala, I’m sorrier that I can ever say that this happened to you.  I didn’t know you personally, but you didn’t deserve this.  No one does.

If you’d like to make a donation to The Schuchardt family, you can do so by clicking going to: sHands Across Texas - Schuchard Family Benefit.  Hands Across Texas is a group that my husband and friends from our community work with, so I can vouch for the legitimacy of this charity and assure you that ALL donations will be going to the Schuchardt family.  We will also be hosting a benfit concert for the Schuchard’s.  I will post more details on that as I get them, but if you would like to volunteer your time, or items for the auction, that will happen at the concert, please feel free to contact me at cmatievic @ gmail.com

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