‘I loved him’: Mom adjusting to life without husband after losing him in crash

LANCASTER COUNTY, S.C. — After two drivers lost their lives in a deadly head-on crash in Lancaster County, one family is doing their best to put the pieces back together.

Heather Caulder and her three young kids wish they had more time.

“Like every day I wake up and I just think -- it was just a bad dream,” she said.

She said her husband, James Caulder, was a big family man. He was playful and loved everyone, she added.

“I loved him and he loved me,” Heather Caulder said.

That love came to a tragic end a week ago along Highway 903 near Lancaster. State troopers say on June 29, another driver crossed the center line, hitting James Caulder head-on. Caulder and the other driver were both killed.

Heather Caulder says her husband was on his way to his new job.

“I got up that morning, fixed his breakfast, he kissed me bye. And he said, ‘I’ll see you tonight,’” Heather Caulder recalled. “And then four hours later, they showed up at my door and I didn’t get to see him.”

She and her kids now face a tough new reality -- one that doesn’t yet feel real. The stay-at-home mom is scrambling to find a job.

“Now, I’ve got to figure out how to balance full-time work because I have to provide for them and then figure out childcare,” she said.

They have good moments and bad, but are trying to focus on precious memories.

“He was a good father,” Caulder said. “He made me laugh all the time.”

They look back on family trips -- the small, everyday moments -- like when Caulder was teaching his boys to play baseball, or taking them to school.

“He was a good person, just a real good soul,” Heather Caulder said.

A soul that will live on in those trying to adjust to life without him.

“I’ll do stuff that he would normally do, like fix stuff and help around the house with my mom, do the chores,” Caulder’s 11-year-old son, Ryan, said.

>> There is a GoFundMe set up for the Caulders to helps with any needs the family may have. To contribute, click here.

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