Executive Producer: Julie Fike

Our thoughts and prayers right now are with our Chief Meteorologist and friend, Rick Mitchell. His mother died early Monday morning. I can tell you the mood swiftly changed in the newsroom when word spread. We went from "the case of the Mondays" to empathy for our colleague.

On this blog, we've often times written and mentioned our moms. For most of us, our mother respresents the heart of the family. When God takes her, the heart is gone and it's our hearts that our broken.

Rick wrote on his blog, "Someday, if I work at it, I might have one tenth the faith that she had. She truly was a faithful servant of the Lord. " In my family we often relate or quote movies to express ourselves. I can't help but think of the scene at the end of "Big Fish." It's when Billy Crudup is carrying Albert Finney back to the water and he sees all the characters he's encountered in his life.

It gets to me every time.

That's how I imagine it'll be. If we are lucky enough, we'll see everyone who went before us and they'll greet us with open arms. It's something small to make me feel better about losing a loved one, at least I know, hopefully, they'll be waiting for me.

We love you and your family Rick.