WHEN the family of two of women killed with a child in a fatal crash look up into the night sky and see three stars they imagine their loved ones together in heaven, shining down on them.
This thought is one of the few which can still console Julia Earlam, imagining her daughter Claire Adkins, cousin Courtney Hemming and little Leo Painter together in eternity as the families face their first Christmas without their loved ones.
Mrs Adkins, 39, Miss Hemming, 26, and Leo Painter, six, died in the crash when a drink and drug driver ploughed into their taxi in an uninsured BMW on the A44 Spetchley Road near Worcester on February 22.
Family members have shared their grief in the hope it will deter people from the temptations of drink or drug driving when they see first-hand the devastation the actions of one man have caused.
Worcester News is backing their campaign to make sure everyone gets home safely this Christmas.
Both Courtney Hemming and Claire Adkins have been laid to rest at Astwood Cemetery in Worcester following the crash which saw 34-year-old driver Joe-Lewis Tyler jailed for 19 years after the sentence was increased (from 18 years) by a judge following a mathematical error.
Claire's ashes are buried in Astwood Cemetery with her stillborn daughter, Angel Adkins, who died in 2003.
The family also put a box in Angel's grave with photos, letters and a bottle of Baileys, Claire's favourite drink. Because it was only a small bottle, Mrs Earlam said Claire would probably have made a joke and called her 'tight'.
All around Mrs Earlam's home are photos of her daughter and Courtney in happier times, laughing, smiling - but now those same photos are all they have to remember the two women.
Claire Adkins attended Elbury Mount primary school and what was Elgar High School when she was younger, meeting the love of her life, Ginge Adkins, when she was 16.
Mrs Adkins, who had two brothers, was described by her mum as 'cheeky' as a child and 'daddy's girl' who 'liked a good time'.
She was working as a chaperone on the day she died. She described how Claire's husband, Ginge Adkins, father of Claire's three sons, had been left 'absolutely broken' by the loss of his wife.
Claire married Ginge on the Greek island of Kos two years ago but they had been together 23 years and have three children together - Jamie, 20, Jake, 18, and Ryan, 13.
"She still lives on in her three boys," said Miss Earlam, 62, of Brickfields. She said all three of them were a credit to how good a mum her daughter was. "They are lost without her," she said.
Both Mrs Earlam and Tracy Hemming (Courtney's aunt and Claire's cousin) said they felt Claire, Courtney and Leo were 'together in heaven' and would think of them if they looked up and saw 'three stars together'.
"We like to think of them all up there together, in heaven," said Mrs Earlam.
Tracy Hemming, 45, said she had communicated with Courtney via a medium. She said Courtney had said of Lewis-Tyler's 'lenient' sentence: "He never got long enough."
A marble bench has been installed at Astwood Cemetery in Worcester in honour of Claire with the message: "Memories are golden, That is true, We never wanted memories, We only wanted you."
She said her husband, Claire's dad, Dave Earlam, would still speak to her when he looked at her photographs and say 'good morning Claire'.
Mrs Earlam, who has a job in residential care, is working on Christmas Day but will welcome family on Boxing Day, play games and drink some Chocolate Baileys in Claire's honour.
Miss Hemming said she pictured Claire and Courtney 'clubbing up there'
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