The past 10 days have been the most heart-wrenching days that I’ve ever experienced. On Monday, May 6th, a young man from my community was stolen from his family. It started with an “I’ll be back soon” promise to his wife and small baby, and ended when his body was found 8 days later in a field just short of an hour from his home, burned beyond recognition. How did it happen? Tim had listed his truck for sale online. The night he was taken, two potential buyers arrived at his house to take a pre-arranged test drive. He never came back. “It was just a truck, a stupid truck. You don’t need him, but I do and our daughter needs her daddy back so please, please let him come home”, his wife pleaded with his kidnappers during a press conference. Sadly, this wouldn’t be the outcome.
From the moment it was reported that Tim was missing, the community rallied around his wife, baby girl, and family in an effort to find Tim and bring him home safely. Before long it hit social media and exploded. Posters, window decals, and bumper stickers were prepared, gatherings were scheduled, and the legwork began. Thousands upon thousands of posters, decals, and bumper stickers were handed out at malls and hung on poles and trees. Groups of people who’d never met before worked together to make sure that as many people as possible were made aware of Tim’s kidnapping. And while his house became the headquarters for his family, friends and police, a facebook page numbering more than 140,000 people in just a few short days, became the headquarters for many others. It became a place of hope, prayer, and love for the family and for Tim. Later, when the police reported that Tim’s body had been found, hope turned to despair, but the one thing that remained steadfast was the outpouring of love and prayers for this family. We all have different reasons why this event has made a forever mark in our lives, but I can say without a shadow of a doubt that Tim, his wife, Sharlene, his baby girl, and family have reached deep into the hearts of the people in this city, in this province, in Canada, and dare I say, across this world and we’ve adopted Tim as one of our own. He will never be forgotten. R.I.P. Tim!
The freebie today is dedicated to Sharlene, Tim’s wife, who has demonstrated strength beyond belief throughout this whole ordeal. On Wednesday, just one day after Sharlene received the news of her husbands death, and at her request, she held a press conference to thank the people for being a source of love and support to her and to her family. If you are interested in seeing her strength in action, you can watch her heart-wrenching address in this video…
http://www.citynews.ca/2013/05/15/wife-of-slain-hamilton-man-tim-bosma-thanks-public-for-support/
So far, one man has been arrested but this is an ongoing investigation and the police are still searching for the other suspects.
Please keep this family in your prayers. They are going to need lots in the days, weeks, months, and years to come.
As always, click on the link(s) below the preview to download this freebie.
PNG or JPG format (can be resized)
JPGS:
PNGS: I’d really love it if you used the “Share With Me” feature that can be found on the toolbar just below the header for this blog to show me the projects you created using my freebie.Don't forget to come back next week for another Friday Freebie!
