“Friday afternoon, the day after Valentine’s Day,
I received a text at 1:24 from my precious husband that said:
‘I love you.
I’ve been shot at work.’”

That was the final text that Terra Pinkard received from her husband.

He was one of five people who were shot and killed by a co-worker who was about to fired at a plant in Illinois.
Here’s more of what Terra wrote:

It took me several times reading it for it to hit me that it was for real.

I called his phone several times, text, FaceTime, nothing.
I called his plant and a lady answered and said she was barricaded in her room and police were everywhere.

Of course my heart dropped.
I grabbed my children and drove to his plant where I met a cop blocking off the roads.
She couldn’t tell me anything.

I drove to the nearest hospital.
He wasn’t there.

I drove to the second nearest hospital.
Not there.

I waited for hours.

I finally got in touch with the Aurora Police.
They told us there were fatalities.
He read my husband’s name.

I immediately left and went to get my kids.
I told my children their dad did not make it and is in heaven with Jesus.

I’ve never had to do something that hard.

Every thought in my mind and everything I see reminds me of a precious memory of my husband.

I literally can’t talk out loud about this lovely man without breaking down in sobs.
I’m crying now as I write this.

I want to shout from the rooftops about how amazing Josh was!
He was brilliant!
The smartest person I’ve ever met!
My best friend!

He was dying and found the clarity of mind for just a second to send me one last text to let me know he would always love me.

Please pray for my children.
They are struggling because they miss a daddy who loved them so much.

Please pray that somehow I can put that one foot in front of the other.

And again thank you for all the kindness you have shown to us.
Four other workers at the plant were also killed.
Including a college intern.
It was his first day on the job.

The gunman was also killed.

I don’t really know what else to say.
It just makes me sick how some people want to go out in a “blaze of glory” and take as many people as they can with them.

And now three young kids have no daddy.
It’s disgusting.

For the sake of this post I will assume that if you hit "like" it means you're thinking about Terra and her three kids.

credits:Terra Pinkard