JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A mother of three children who were tragically killed in a mobile home fire in June says her heart goes out to the family who lost their 6-year-old girl in an apartment fire early Friday morning.
It was an emotional holiday for Jennifer Fowler and her family, but they hope that the pain and suffering that gave them strength after the death of their children will help another family cope with their loss.
"It (brought) back things. It (brought) back what I felt with my children and then my heart broke into a million pieces," said Fowler.
Fowler said the wounds of losing her three children and their grandmother are still trying to heal, but Friday morning when she saw that another family had been stricken with the same tragedy, she said those wounds re-opened.
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"Us as a family, as one, we know what they're going through. We been through it," Fowler said. "I can't say it gets better 'cause it don't, but we take it."
This was the first Christmas holiday that Richard and Jennifer Fowler spent with only their surviving child, 7-year-old Hattie. She was saved from the fire by a neighbor.
"She is doing fantastic. She is a very strong little girl. She's doing great," said Jennifer Fowler. "She's done Christmas and was excited about it. She loves her school and she's a very strong little girl."
Strength that Hattie's mother and grandfather hope the Smith family will have.
"To the Smith family, I feel their pain. I really do, and I cried when I seen it on TV, because I know what they're going through, and they will be in our prayers," said Jennifer Fowler.
"Nobody knows what you go through," said Hattie's grandfather, Clayton Woods. "You got to go through it and know the hurt is different. Matter of fact, I'd rather have my arm chopped off than go through it again."