Benefit set for young widow and three sons

Robert and Mandi Sosebee and their three small children moved from the New Bern area to College Station, Texas, in June in search of a better life.

They seemed to have found it when he got a job at the site of a new factory, as a millwright working on generator turbines. That job was scheduled to last until 2010 with a planned move to Virginia.

Before the Texas job, he had been on the road working for a year.

"He really hated it because the thing that he cherished the most in life was his family," said Mandi Sosebee.

Two days short of a month in Texas, everything changed.

"He didn't make it home from work that night," she said.

The father of three had been killed in an auto crash.

Mandi was suddenly alone in Texas with no family other than her sons.

Robert Sosebee's mother, Pam, and his brother Chris drove to Texas and helped Mandi pack up and move back to New Bern.

The boys are Jarrett, 10, Tyler, 7, who will are enrolled for school beginning next week, along with Brice, who just turned 2.

The future had seemed in control, but the events of the past 40 days have come at Mandi quickly and hard.

"I am literally numb," she said. "I know I have to do something that supports my family and also gives my kids something to learn from, so I haven't quite made all those decisions yet. It is something I pray about daily."

Before becoming a full-time mom three years, she worked for 10 years as an office manager and accountant for an auto dealership.

"I have considered going back to school and getting into the medical field," she said.

Mandi and the boys are living with Robert's mother, Pam, who said she has drawn strength from them amid her own grief over losing a son.

"Having her and the boys here with me keeps me going," said Pam Sosebee. "I think it is to each of our benefits that we are together. As I told Mandi, ‘A lot of days you and the boys are the reason I have to get up in the mornings."

Robert and Mandi made many friends during their time living in New Bern and also in the Beaufort County community of Small. Many of them have banded together and will hold a benefit for the young widow Sunday at the Moose Lodge on N.C. 55 at Grantsboro.

Mandi Sosebee said she is appreciative of the offer to help her bridge a difficult time. Amid her grieving, good memories stand out.

"Robert was my best friend in life," she said. "There are so many couples who just don't have a relationship like we had. My kids did not know what arguing was. We never fought. It was a waste of time and time was too precious for that."

She said Robert's hobby was cooking for the family, making meals from scratch.

"He was a wonderful dad and spent all his spare time playing with the kids, whether it was inside playing games and baking cookies or outside skateboarding and bicycling," she said. "He was always right in the middle of whatever they did. He was awesome."

The couple would have celebrated their 12th anniversary together July 24.

 Benefit for family

When: Sunday, 5 p.m.

Where: Moose Lodge, N.C. 55 in Grantsboro

What: A benefit for Mandi Sosebee and her three young sons. Her husband died in an auto wreck in July. Take a covered dish. Entertainment by Harbor Sounds. Emcee is Ed Terry. A raffle is also planned.

Cost: Donations go to the Sosebee family.

Information: Call Anne Smithwick at 670-7629 or Tammy LeBrun at 671-9719.