To Whom It May Concern:

I want to first thank everyone who was there for my family when his father and I lost our only son, Jeremy. I want to extend a special thanks to the Elks, Touch of Color and Dave and Debbie Crumbaugh for the donation they gave in the Memory of Jeremy L. Ward. I would also like to thank a very special person to me. Her name is Lisa. She has helped me so much. We both have lost someone so precious to us and what hurts the most is that it should have never happened in the first place.

I would like to say how very sorry I am that it took me so long. I am having a hard time dealing with the death of such an amazing person. I don’t think anyone knows what this has done to Jeremy’s friends, family, Jessica and most important his son Landon. Jeremy would have done anything for us.

My greatest hope is that others will learn from our heartache and I thank God everyday that no one else was hurt. What happened on March 23, 2009 should have never happened. My son and his fiancée went to town for an ice cream cone, and my son never came home. Jeremy was only two miles from his house when those kids saw his car. As a mother, I know my son. As a wise man once told me “believe half of what you see and none of what you hear.”

I will always remember the kind words and they will be with me forever, just like Jeremy. There’s one person’s words I will cherish forever. I don’t know his name but I will remember his words forever. He looked at me and said “I am so sorry about your son.” I asked him if he knew Jeremy and he said “No, but I have heard nothing but good things about him.” I thank him from the bottom of my heart. Anyone that knew Jeremy knows what kind of person he was and I as a mother could not have asked for a more precious gift than Jeremy. For those of you that did not know Jeremy or took the time to get to know him let me quote his sister in a letter that she wrote on the last day of court. “Those kids took an amazing person from us. I will love and miss my brother everyday of my life. People always say God takes the good ones first and God took the best. God will never get anyone better than my brother.”

Thank you,

Teresa Ward and Family
St. Louis