As devastating as it was, the time came and we had to move from there and life went on. The High School that I ended up attending was where I met my High School sweetheart Jay Cooke. After dating for quite a while we married and had two little boys. Our marriage lasted 9 years ending in divorce and quickly we both were involved in other relationships that produced another child a piece 3 months apart. My relationship after Jay was extremely abusive which resulted in my now ex-husband Jay getting full custody of our two children. Although I was able to get my boys regularly I never could shake this pain. It was overwhelming at times. After 7 years on and off with this abusive relationship I was able to get out completely and now I was alone for the first time in my life. This new found freedom was like a breath of fresh air at first, but now I found myself empty. I was raising my 3rd son Justin from the abusive relationship by myself and enjoyed the freedom of not having a relationship but not having my other two sons with me all the time was too painful to bear.

It was a normal day in August of 1999 when I was in my home by myself. I couldn't place the despair I was feeling until I was walking through my hallway and looking at a collage of pictures. It was a variety of pictures that included Jay and I, the boys when they were little, Easter egg hunts, Christmas, me pregnant...etc. I stood there lost in the past and wanting so bad for my boys to be little again so I could start over and be with them. If I could just start over! Tears fell from my face as I stood there reaching up to touch the pictures asking God why? It didn't feel like I could stand any longer from the gut wrenching grief. I blindly made it to my living room and fell to my knees at my couch crying out loud "Why God!" Please help me! At that moment the spirit of the Lord spoke to my spirit and said "Stop! Why are you crying over the gold that you lost yesterday when the gold that you have today, tomorrow too will be gone! Did I not tell you that I would return to you 10 fold?" The tears stopped immediately and I couldn't believe that I had been living in the past instead of cherishing every moment that I had now! My older boys were 7 and 3 when I lost them and they were now 16 and 12. I was losing precious time with them now because I had been blind with grief.

Approximately one week after the Lord spoke to me in my living room I was at work and thinking about the old days in East Texas. I had heard in years back that Terry had gotten married. I knew if he ever had gotten married he would most likely stay married because of the good young man that he was. He was just made out of good stuff. I also knew his sister Kay had gotten married but I didn't know her last name. Since I didn't know how to get a hold of her I called information and asked for the number of a Terry or Kyle Pierce in that specific city in East Texas. The operator came back and told me that both numbers were non-published. I honestly didn't give it another thought until 6 nights later when I had a dream. I dreamed that I walked into an empty mobile home and there was Terry in a sitting position on the floor working on this home. I said "Well Terry Pierce!" He looked around toward me and chuckled and said "Why Hello There!" I walked over to him, leaned down and gave him a hug. The next scene of the dream he was reaching his hand out to help me up on a step where he was.

The next day I couldn't shake this dream so by 10:00 a.m. I called information and asked to speak to a supervisor. The supervisor got on the phone and I proceeded to tell her that I needed to reach someone who had a non-published number and since she couldn't give out the number could she please get someone a message? She said "yes she would." At that point I gave her the name Terry Pierce. She asked me to hold for a moment and then came back and said "Well honey, if you are looking for Terry Pierce" and she spelled his last name, "then he IS listed." I was a little confused but took the number and thanked her. (I wish I would have gotten her name.) I had butterflies in my stomach as I dialed the number the operator had just given me. A young girl answered the phone and I said "Is Terry there?" She said "My Daddy's in Arkansas working." Since I knew that he had gotten married I asked "Well, could I speak to your Mamma?" She replied "My Mamma doesn't live here." At that moment I have to admit a little light bulb in my head went off. I told her that my brother and I was friends with him, Kay and Kyle and could she give him a message. I gave her my number and hung up feeling numb. Within 5 minutes my phone was ringing and I stared at the phone knowing it was him! I answered "This is Debbie, can I help you?" And he replied this is Terry, can I help you?" I was so excited as I squealed "What are you doing?!" We laughed and talked and agreed for him to come by my house 2 nights from then on his way home from Arkansas.

Two days past, it was 5:00 and I was leaving work knowing that I was fixing to see Terry Pierce again for the first time in 23 years! When I got home I phoned him on his mobile phone to let him know I was there. 10 minutes later he was pulling up to my house! He got out of his truck and I walked out of my front door. Walking towards each other he was chewing gum and laughing saying "You look the same!" I was laughing saying "You look totally different!" He now had beautiful silver hair and a neatly groomed goatee. We met in the middle of my yard and hugged one another for a few moments. With that we went inside where we visited. I asked him what he did for a living and he said he did all of the warranty work for Palm Harbor Homes which are "manufactured homes." All of a sudden my dream came back to me! In my dream he was working on an empty mobile home! I asked him if his number had been unlisted and he said "yes." I asked how long it had been unlisted and he said "7 years." I asked "when did you have it listed?" He said "Just last week!!!"