Surviving Wade

For the first few years after Wade's death, Elizabeth says she would visit his grave every day and read to him. She read the Bible and Sages and Dreamers by Elie Weisel, a gift from Wade's godfather. She then made her way through the entire 12th grade reading list from Wade's school.

"It's sort of the same way we spent time together before he died and that gave me great comfort," says Elizabeth.

Another "enormous" comfort for the family was Wade's personal journal, which Elizabeth found after his death. In it he wrote, "I really want to do something great with my life. I want to start a family when I grow up. I'm going to be as good a parent to my kids as my parents are to me. But more than anything, when I die, I want to be able to say that I had a great life. So far, I've had a wonderful life. And I hope it keeps up."