November 13, 2012 was a sad day. My oldest cousin on my dad's side, Nicholas Major Wells-Longshore, and his sweet, sweet wife Caroline, delivered a perfect little boy who had returned to Heaven too quickly. They were so looking forward to raising their son here on Earth, but Heavenly Father had other plans. Colton Todd Wells-Longshore was born still-born. Nick and Caroline were devastated. Colton was named after Nick's dad, Todd, who passed away in May 2006.
Several months later, Nick and Caroline found out that they were pregnant again, this time expecting in April 2014.
Exactly one year after Colton's passing, November 13, 2013, Nick and Caroline decided to celebrate Colton's 1 year birthday. They went up to Idaho to hang out with several of Caroline's family, and to ride ATV's at the sand dunes.
Nick was riding an ATV and hit a sand dune wrong, and ended up having to jump off the ATV. By freak accident, the ATV ended up landing on him and broke his pelvis instantly. It broke in what is called an "open book" fracture. He broke several ribs, and had more injuries that we are just not too sure about. Nick was rushed to the emergency room, not really too aware of the severity of his injuries. While waiting for a doctor to come, Nick ended up coding. He wasn't breathing for at least 20 minutes.
Complication after complication happened. The next morning, Nick's mom was able to fly in from California, and the rest of the family joined them in the hospital.
Unfortunately, after several attempts, Nick was not able to be saved. Before saying her last goodbye, Caroline was able to get a sonogram and find out that her and Nick were expecting a little girl. They are going to name her Hannah Nicholas Wells-Longshore. (Hannah after our cousin who died as a baby, and obviously Nicholas after her father).
The morning of November 20, 2013, Nicholas Major Wells-Longshore returned to our loving Heavenly Father, and was greeted by the Longshore Men, including our Papa Russ, Nick's dad Todd, and their son Colton. It must have been one of the sweetest reunions ever! I am so grateful for the Plan of Salvation, knowing that we get to spend ETERNITY with our families.
As I have been thinking and pondering what has happened in the last week, I realized that I would have loved to write Nick a letter and let him know how much I love and care about him!
So, I am going to write it here.
Dear Nick~
First of all, I just want to tell you how much I love you. I love your giant bear hugs, and I love your words of advice. I love that you were always concerned about my personal life and all that I was accomplishing.
Thank you so much for being such a great example to all of us. No one better could have led our generation to righteousness! You knew how important the relationship is with our Savior, Jesus Christ, and how important Temple Covenants are. You set the example by marrying in the temple and by going on a mission.
You led all of us cousins! You served others selflessly, and loved unconditionally. You taught us, by example, how to protect our family's name, and how to stand for righteousness at all times.
I am grateful that you are just like your Dad! It was a sad time when Uncle Todd passed away, and the more I got to know you, the more I realized that you were just like him. That made his passing less painful, and our relationship with you more tender. I am grateful that you took on a fatherly role for your siblings. Their lives were blessed immensely because you cared, and were willing to step up to that hard responsibility.
I love that you cared for each of us. I love that you could tease us, just the right amount, so we knew that you loved us deeply. I love that you asked about my life, and took an interest in what I was doing.
Thank you for setting such a great example for us about the relationships we can have with our Mothers. Your relationship with Aunt DeAnn was tender and special, and you let us know how much you care for her through your words and actions.
Thank you for sacrificing a lot so that Caroline could be happy! Thank you for showing love to her, and for supporting your relationship with her.
Thank you for never giving up! Thank you for being there when we needed you, and for being so wonderful.
I will miss you dearly. However, I have a lot of fun memories to look back on and know that you will always protect us and our family.
Love always and forever, Gwen deLynn Marie
