The Shoemake Journals

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Williamson, GA
The Shoemake Journals

Follow our family’s journey of loss, pain, brokenness, hope, redemption and the highs and lows through the loss of my child and my husband. God Bless!

Learning to survive the life we never asked for and finding ourselves in the midst of grief. Thank you for visiting the Leland Shoemake Foundation's page. This page was started in honor of our six-year-old son who passed away September 25, 2015 from a brain eating amoeba called Balamuthia Mandrillaris. He contracted this from playing in the dirt. Please visit our website for more informat

ion and ways to prevent infection. We are a 501(c)3 non-profit public charity. We strive to honor Leland in everything that we do and to keep his memory alive. All of the events that we hold throughout the year go towards helping children in need in the community. We are based out of Pike County, GA and our EIN number is 81-1657862. Any donations made to the Leland Shoemake Foundation are tax deductible. If you are interested in more information about our upcoming events, awareness, are interested in being a sponsor, or if you just want to know more about Leland or our foundation, them please visit the website or contact us directly. Thank you so much for liking our page. Please share the page and any information to help spread awareness and save lives. The name of the organization is Leland Shoemake Foundation Inc. The organization is organized in accordance with the Georgia Nonprofit Corporation Code, as amended. The organization has not been formed for the making of any profit, or personal financial gain. The assets and income of the organization shall not be distributable to, or benefit the trustees, directors, or officers or other individuals. The assets and income shall only be used to promote corporate purposes as described in the articles. Nothing contained herein, however, shall be deemed to prohibit the payment of reasonable compensation to employees and independent contractors for services provided for the benefit of the organization. This organization shall not carry on any other activities not permitted to be carried on by an organization exempt from federal income tax. The organization shall not endorse, contribute to, work for, or otherwise support (or oppose) a candidate for public office. The organization is organized exclusively for purposes subsequent to section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

10/23/2025

There’s no denying he’s my kid. He is me made over in so many ways. Especially his love for old music and movies. Anything 70s, 80s or 90s and he’s all in. ♥️ Probably why we all love Guardians of the Galaxy so much.

10/20/2025

I never thought I would ever lose a child and especially not my husband. I thought Timmy was invincible. Yet this is how we have to have our family together until God calls us home to be reunited once again. I’m already dreading the holidays.

10/14/2025

I’m in this strange and unfamiliar place in life where I don’t know who I am or what I’m supposed to do. Ten years without my son and 7 months without my husband.

We did life together and everything was so perfect. We were sure of so many things including the future we had planned together. Until the day everything was suddenly ripped away and I was left alone with no direction. My days are long and I feel as though I’m just merely existing in a world that doesn’t make sense. Like I’m living someone else’s life. My life, my being, my purpose and who I was, was thethered to my husband. Now that tethered lifeline has been severed.

My days seem redundant and lacking with the huge void Timmy left behind. He and I did everything together and now I feel as though the days are passing by without knowledge of time. It’s weird to feel this and most of it I can’t put into words. I always felt like I belonged when Timmy was around. I have no place now. It’s hard to live without the person who was your safe place and your home. It’s now just a sense of homelessness. It’s strange to exist in a world without the one person you need and now seeing yourself as a stranger. It’s as though a new space has been created and I’m living in this parallel life that exists between what should be reality and somewhere unknown that I long to be. Like being stuck in an unknown place that exists in the in between. As though I’m just surviving in the waiting.

10/11/2025

A smile creeps across my face but its presence is short lived by the ever consuming absence and sadness that is now my forever companion. All I seem to think about is Timmy and how much I need him and his touch. He made me feel like I was the only woman in the world and he truly put me first. I’m living this pain and I still don’t see how people survive this. I feel like each day that passes, I die a little more inside.

10/03/2025

Thinking into my weird deep thoughts again and had this come through my mind. Timmy knew me better than anyone. I told him everything, every thought and every feeling. But honestly, no one knows you better than you know yourself except Jesus. You know your thoughts and how you feel. Are you as transparent as you say you are? Is the person you know on the inside the same person that is reflected out to others? Do they see what you know to be true? Do they see what Jesus sees? But the big question is would you want them to see?

I’ve been told so many times how much my honesty and transparency is appreciated. I can truthfully say that I hide nothing. I refuse to be fake or false in anyway, even in the small things. But most importantly in the big things. I don’t share what I share for any reason other than this is who I am. I respect honesty, even if it hurts. In a world full of lies and and where we honestly don’t know what’s true and what isn’t, just be you, unapologetically. I pray that I’m always honest and transparent and that I truly reflect Jesus. I know I have failed and I’m sure I will again. But my focus is to try to be who He says I am and know that is the only thing that matters. And I show my kids how to walk in truth and honesty and not say I do. I ask myself this and I encourage you to ask yourself too, if people could see who you are inside and know the thoughts you don’t say out loud, what would they say? Would they see the same person you put on display or would they see someone completely different?

10/02/2025

People always say, "I wish I was as strong as you"..
No...No, you really don't.
You don’t want to know the kind of pain I go through daily to be this way. I feel homeless and lost because my home wasn’t four walls and a roof, it was my husband, and he’s gone. His absence has been the heaviest thing I’ve ever had to carry.

I cry everyday but the tears aren’t the end of my story. I don’t know what God is doing but I’m trusting Him. He can use the tears of the brokenhearted to write redemption. I’m believing that none of this pain is being wasted. I’ve been built on broken. My life feels like it stopped the day Timmy left and I feel like I died with him, but I know God isn’t done writing. And I’m trusting that it’s good. The hardest part is flipping the page to the next chapter that doesn’t have my best friend in it. But I’ll continue to let the tears fall and trust that he’s using every drop as ink for a story of hope.

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Williamson, GA

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(678) 544-4095

Website

http://www.theshoemakejournals.com/

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