In July 2012, Usher’s ex-wife Tameka Raymond suffered the tragic loss of her 11-year-old son, Kile Glover after a jet ski accident. Kile was struck by a jet ski while riding an inner tube on Georgia’s Lake Lanier. After sustaining a severe head injury, he tragically died of heart failure.
Nearing three years since her son’s death, Raymond penned an emotional open letter for Madame Noire on celebrating Mother’s Day without Kile. Writing that the loss has led to her own heart arrhythmia, she shared that the holiday traditions carry on with the presence of her other four sons, including Usher V and Naviyd, whom she shares with the singer:
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This year will be like every other Mother’s Day. My boys and I will go to brunch at a fancy hotel or restaurant. They will bring cards and flowers. We will laugh, eat bacon and tell stories and I will bask in the miracle of being their Mom. However, it is still hard for me. And, I wonder if they see me and my grief, wondering if they are enough.
My sons, Darrin, Ryan, Usher V and Naviyd must always know that they are more than enough. They fill the space that Kile left in ways that they may never know. Just being in their presence soothes me, calms my nerves and restores my sense of purpose in this world.
Raymond concluded her letter on a hopeful note, encouraging mothers everywhere who have lost children to continue to appreciate motherhood.
“Being a mother is stronger than death for me,” she wrote. “I am wishing all Mothers, everywhere, love and appreciation for the gift you have in your children. Always remain grateful.”
Read Tameka Raymond’s full Mother’s Day open letter here.