A tragic loss for one of our neighbors

If your a regular reader of other Knoxville-centric blogs, you may have heard that one of our city's blogging superstars, Katie Allison Granju, today is dealing with the tragic death of Henry, the oldest of her four children, at age 18. Katie is an author, maintains several blogs on parenting (her main one, Mama Pundit, appears to have crashed with the news of Henry's passing) and works for Ackermann PR.

You can read Katie's own honest account of her son's struggles with drug addiction and the brutal assault which left him with serious head trauma for the past few weeks.

Some of Katie's friends in the community have set up a fund to help her and her family manage the costs of Henry's care. Her coworker Shane Rhyne says you can donate by doing the following:

Simply write a check made out to Katie Allison Granju.

Mail it to:

Crystal Cardwell
c/o Ackermann PR
1111 Northshore Drive, Suite N-400
Knoxville, TN 37919

We’ll handle it from there and deposit the funds raised into an account for the family.

At the very least, please keep Katie and her family in your thoughts. I cannot even begin to fathom what she's going through right now, and yet I know that I or any of us could be faced with the same heartbreaking situation at any point in our lives. We love you, Katie.