The last 24 hours

Dear Friends and Family,

The last 24 hours have been extremely difficult for me and my Andrea. I feel sad and helpless for Andrea Sneiderman and especially for hers and Rusty's children. I am going to try to explain how I’m feeling to the best of my ability.

Why do I feel helpless? I wish I could call Andrea and tell her things will be okay but I can't. I wish I could give her a hug and tell her there are so many people supporting her but I can't. All that my Andrea and I can do right now is be there for her parents and her kids and we have been so far and plan to be until this mayhem is over.

Why am I sad? I'm sad that Andrea's kids were at the house when this took place. I'm sad that the media knew before Andrea and her family. I wish her lawyers had been notified so that they could have escorted Andrea down to the station without all of the media fanfare especially since it would have lessened the chances that her children were present for this horrifying encounter. I am sad from all of the media calls and e-mails that I have been receiving asking me to come down and give my support for Andrea. Andrea has my support and I don't feel that further media exposure is going to show that any clearer.

Rusty and I used to talk about my speaking engagements, my books and the potential for media exposure. He used to tell me that I was going to be on TV and radio to raise awareness for my cause. I never wanted to become a media mogul this way. I never thought the media would be calling me to talk about Rusty's death and Andrea's incarceration. It's heartbreaking.

My PR firms have made every effort to reach out to the media about my life story and beating cystic fibrosis. I maybe had 10 hits in 2 years. In 24 hours, I haven't made a single call and over 15 outlets have e-mailed or called to get me to come on the air. Again, I understand that the media has a job to do but it just saddens me that bad news has to outshine good news in the world. That just doesn't seem right.

My Andrea and I are sad today for our friend, her family and especially for hers and Rusty's children. They have already lost a father and now at least temporarily they have lost a mother. My heart breaks for them. I wish I could tell them that everything is going to be alright. I wish I could hug them for however long Andrea is in jail. I wish I could wake up tomorrow and this was all a nightmare. The truth is that none of these things are going to happen.

Let me take this time to tell all of you that Andrea has a great team. I'm not talking about her attorneys or even her loyal friends; all of whom by the way are terrific. I'm talking about her family specifically her father. I didn't know Herb very well when all of this happened but I've grown to not only know him but to respect the Hell out of him. He's not only strong for Andrea but he's an amazing role model for her children Sophia and Ian. He loves them all so much. He's great to Bonnie, his wife of many years, as well. Herb, I hope that I'm the kind of father and grandfather (God willing) that you are.

I am sad for Andrea. I hurt for all of the people who lost Rusty especially his children. He was a terrific man but I know if he was here today he'd ask everyone to respect Andrea and the children's privacy.

Thanks for taking the time to read this. My Andrea and I are hurting right now for our friend. It is awful to turn on the TV, look at the computer or open the newspaper and see her in handcuffs being escorted to a police car. We pray that justice prevails and that when this trial is over, Andrea's children will remember all of this for one vital reason...the loss of their wonderful father.

I pray all of you are well.

Andy