An Open Letter From the Unthank Family

Dear friends and loved ones,

We can not begin to express the amount of gratitude that is in our hearts for the outpouring of love and grace that you have showed our family over the last three weeks. Susan's death was as unexpected to our family as it was to all of you. We knew that her health had been steadily declining over the last year, but we never had any inclination that 2010 would be the last year we had with her.

We want to give specific thanks to everyone who has donated financially to the family to help cover medical and memorial costs. Susan was uninsurable due to her diagnosis with Chacot-Marie-Tooth Disease (a form or Muscular Dystrophy). Your blessings to our family have made these last few weeks a much easier burden to carry, though it is far from over for our family.

We would like to extend special thanks to those artists that were a part of Susan's memorial as well as those that were going to be included but didn't get make it due to the weather and scheduling conflicts. Thank you to the Booth Brothers, Bowling Family, The Freemans, Jason Crabb, Devin McGlamery, Jason Morales, Shannon Smith, Jeremie Hudson, Ian Owens, Johnny Minick, Karen Peck & New River, The Perrys, Mystery Men Quartet, Kathy Crabb Hannah, Donna Beauvais, and Bev McCann for your willingness to be a part of such a hard but special day for our family.

The good news is that Susan had already set things in motion so that we could continue AbsolutelyGospel.com until long after she was gone. She was in the process of teaching our son, Chris, how to update the site and maintain it if something should happen to her. Chris has now stepped up and taken over editorial duties for the site in addition to running his own company, Southern Spin Entertainment. However, she didn't get around to teaching us everything we need to know. So, we ask that you, the readers and industry, be patient with us as we learn in a matter of weeks what it took Susan 15 years to learn and develop herself.

Susan left us and you, the industry, much too early. We feel inadequate to even try and fill the huge void that she left. Your prayers during this time of transition are very much appreciated. We envy your thoughts and prayers during this time, and we thank you in advance for continuing to visit the site that she so loved and poured her heart in to.

We have no plans of ending anything, and like she would have wanted, the show will go on. We still plan on holding the Absolutely Gospel Music Awards on April 12, 2011 in Smyrna, TN and are already making plans and confirming artists for the 12th Annual AG/SGN Music Fest this summer.

Once again, thank you for your support - both in prayers and finances - and we look forward to the future that God still holds for AbsolutelyGospel.com and our family.

In Christ,
Deon Unthank, Aaron Unthank, Leslie Hill, Scott Bandy, Amy Marie Unthank, and Chris Unthank