Family thanks community for support after loss

MOUNT SOLON, Va. (WHSV) – After losing a son, one Mount Solon family is now receiving support from the community.

For Tammy Knott, a mother of 10, her children are everything, but on Oct. 1 she was heartbroken after losing her 20-year-old son, Jeffrey “Bubby” Knott.

“It was a nightmare; Bubby is what made our house a home. He was the air for me to breathe. He was the light in my darkness. He was my goal. We have a lot of kids, but this boy was the reason I woke up every day,” Knott said. “It’s just the little things you knew he liked that we can’t do anymore.”

Bubby was Knott’s firstborn. He had autism, and Knott said the experience taught her some of the most important life lessons that she now uses to raise the rest of her children.

“He made me who I am. He taught me not to judge someone because you don’t know what a person is going through. We learned this from autism,” Knott said. “He gave us the world, and in return we want to give him what we think is right for him.”

Knott said that since several of the younger children have yet to process the loss, she must remain strong to keep them from grieving.

“We are lost. We no longer know how to function there without him, because for 20 years we did exactly that. He was our world and I don’t know if my heart will ever beat the same way, but I have to keep moving forward for the other kids,” Knott said. “We didn’t realize how much Bubby impacted as many people as he did. People came to us from all over, and when we held his funeral, it was full of people. Bubby influenced a lot of people and made a lot of people smile.”

The family received enormous support from the community, even from local Domino’s restaurants that contribute. For every order placed on October 28, the family will receive 20% of the profit.