Sweet Kaleb

Last October I blogged about the loss of my sweet cousin Kaleb & his girlfriend Diane here.

I still can't believe today is 1 year ago that he passed.... I remember it like it was yesterday!

I remember standing in the Apple store at the town center getting the phone call that Kaleb & Diane had been in a horrible accident and things werent looking good.... I called my cousin Heather & talked with her, and I also talked with Kari, Aunt Lynn, my cousin Pam, & none of them knew anything, all they knew is, it wasnt good..... Sweet Kaleb went to be with the Lord before I could even get there.. Michael and I rushed to the hospital and when I got there they had both already passed, minutes apart from each other! When I went into see him it was a horrible reality to face... I pray for Heather & Kari all the time, I can't imagine what I would do without my brother, and they have to face it on a daily basis, so I ask that today you say a prayer for them, today marks one year ago that they lost their loving brother so I know today will be hard & not easy so please pray that God wraps his loving arms around them and comforts them in this time of need!! Diane's parents & family to....

I miss you Kaleb!!

Love you, always have & always will!!


What happened if you don't know... Most of you do though... This was the article in the paper..

Friends say the teens, both 16, were destined to marry, be together forever

By ADAM AASEN, The Times-Union

CALLAHAN - They were just 16 years old, but they were the "perfect couple." According to friends, they were totally in love and would be together forever.

Kaleb Whittemore of Hilliard would sing to his girlfriend, Diane Lee Mumford of Bryceville. It was always the same song - Waiting on a Woman, by country star Brad Paisley.

They would have been married, friends say, but a Sunday afternoon crash took both of their lives.

About noon on County Road 121 in Nassau County, Whittemore was driving Mumford home from Sunday services at First Baptist Church when his Ford pickup truck skidded off the road for unknown reasons. According to the Florida Highway Patrol, the truck overturned three times, ejecting both of them from the vehicle. They were transported to Shands Jacksonville hospital, where they died. Neither was wearing a seat belt.

The first deputy on the scene was one of Whittemore's relatives.

Friends from West Nassau High School reminisced Monday at the spot where they crashed. Two heart-shaped floral wreaths - one pink and one blue - rested at the site.

Friends said the couple were always together or talking on the phone to one another.

"Now, we know they are together forever," said 19-year-old friend Mark Conner.

"Yeah - they're forever 16 now," said Nathan Mumford, Diane's 18-year-old brother.

Diane Mumford, a junior at West Nassau High, loved riding horses and volunteering at her church. Her brother said she wanted to be a veterinarian specializing in horses.

She leaves behind her parents, Melissa and Jimmy, and siblings Nathan, Dallas, 7, Levi, 9, and Daphani, 12.

Whittemore was home-schooled but used to attend West Nassau High. Friends said he had his driver's license for several months and was a good driver. He and Nathan Mumford used to work on a chicken farm together to make money, collecting eggs and cleaning up.

He leaves behind his parents, Jeff and Vickie, and two sisters.