Stephen Apala

**Funeral will be at Bigger's Funeral Home in Lake Worth on Tuesday, October 24, 2023. The viewing will be from 10:00am to 11:00am and service from 11:00am to 12:00pm. There will not be a graveside service due to our family deciding cremation. Due to Stephen's medical issues he became disabled and no longer held life insurance.**

On 10/16/23 I suddenly lost my absolute best friend in life. Not only did I lose him, but our children lost such an amazing Dad. And his family lost a wonderful man.

At the moment I am unable to grasp this. I am feeling something so profound that words escape my ability to describe it. It is a collection of numbness, sadness, fear, heartache, anger, grief, and so many thoughts racing thru my head that I will never speak out loud. I have lost loved ones, believe me when I say I have lost more than I can count! I know grief and loss, but finding and losing my husband is by far an experience I will never overcome and that has altered life beyond what I can bounce back from, or accept, or recover from. I simply know that I will now carry this strange numbing, empty, sadness for the rest of my life.

I will be making arrangements sometime tomorrow with his mom and aunts. Lee Turner , Steven Tyler Fargo , Chase Nolen and Darrel Brummett have reached out to me and I will be touching base with them tomorrow about options and help while I get things planned out. I am speechless and grateful for all the immediate help from Ray Throgmorton , Don Spence and Anna; the immediate support and love from Sharon Hamm Breedlove , Katie Audas , Vicki Daffern , Renee Applegate , Aj Morgan , Jessica Morgan , Magan Morgan , Amanda Bane , and Gary Apala ; and the outpouring of support via texts, messages and such from some of our friends. I'm sorry if it upsets anyone that is learning of Stephen's death via social media, but we as a family tried to speak to our immediate family member's and certain friends first. Not too mention we needed to make sure that our children were told, that they were able to get thru the initial shock before any real information got out to everyone.

I know that some of you believe in God and the power of prayer. I'm alright if you post prayer requests, share details as we make arrangements and whatever you need to do in order to process this. I only ask that you respect that at the moment I am not at a point to turn to a God for healing or to get thru this. I am not able to reach out should I need anything because quite frankly I need Stephen and that's not something that anyone can provide me. I'm not able to lie and say that I'm ok because I am most certainly not alright and never will be again. BUT what I can say is that our Sugar Babies keep me grounded, focused and prevent me from crawling into a hole somewhere. So, that's really all I can say and/or share at the moment about my Big Guy.