Texas Victims Of French Terror Attack Remembered By Former North Texas Neighbors
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PROSPER (CBS11) - As the death toll from the terror attack in France continues to grow, loved ones of two Texans among the victims are honoring their memory.
It's been more than a year since the Copeland family lived in the house on Gables Drive in Prosper, but neighbors will tell you the Copelands and especially young Brodie had a lasting influence.
News of the terror attack in France kept getting worse. As each report saw the number of those killed climb, the only thing that could make things harder for Melody Nelson was learning her former neighbors, the Copelands were among the victims.
"I guess I really feel like if our whole world were as kind as Brodie and Kim and Sean, you know maybe we wouldn't have all this turmoil," Nelson said, "They're such sweet people, and they're so kind."
51-year-old Sean Copeland and his 11-year-old little boy Brodie, died after a terrorist drove a truck into a crowd celebrating Bastille Day along the French Riviera. The Copelands were on a family vacation. Before moving to the Austin area, the family lived in Prosper where neighbors remember the younger children looked up to Brodie.
"He had a lemonade stand once, and my daughter, she always wanted to have a lemonade stand, but she was too young or whatever, and so he let her come over there and help him with his lemonade stand and feel like she was a part of his little adventure," Nelson remembered.
Nelson says she's not sure how to break the news to her own children. For now they can keep the memory of a cherished friend who simply moved to another city while the grown-ups cope with the truth that danger is never too far away.
"You're related even if it's just by a string to everything that happens. You can think that, oh we're over here in Texas, and that happened halfway across the world, but it still affects you, and it just makes you wonder why, why are we all so angry at each other?" Nelson said.
A family spokesperson tells us the State Department will fly relatives of the Copelands to France to pick up the family and bring everyone home.
They expect to leave either Friday night or Saturday.
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