Young mother formed strong friendships with support group

Henderson met Gosling less than two years ago through a Facebook group called “divorced/separated parents uncensored” that Gosling created after her failed marriage with Jason Gosling. Henderson, who lives in Virginia, was going through a divorce at the time.

Gosling reached out to Henderson through her personal Facebook page to help her through the difficult period and the two became close friends, calling, texting and Skyping each other frequently. Henderson believes she might have been the last person to speak to Gosling before she was killed.

“I couldn’t accept it. I refused to believe it. It’s still hard for me to believe. I threw up, I’m shaken, I have a headache, I’ve cried, I have not slept, I have not [eaten],” Henderson said, adding she considered Gosling a sister.

Pregnant at the same time with their fourth babies, Henderson said Gosling was the first person she shared the news of her newborn with. The same was true when Gosling gave birth six months ago.

“I had just talked to her Monday and she was telling me how she wanted to end things with Steve and that there were a lot of personal things that were going on … I don’t feel like she was scared of Steve but I feel like he controlled her.”

Stains said she and Gosling instantly bonded after joining the group in November 2013. Stains had just left her husband at the time.

“I can’t tell you how good of a person she was,” Stains said through tears. She last spoke Gosling a few days ago. Stains was planning a trip to Canada to visit Gosling and another member of the Facebook group near Montreal.

In the same conversation, Gosling told Stains that her son Landen was doing karate, her oldest daughter Jenika had just started modeling and her youngest daughter Janayah had just finished her last gymnastics class.

“She was a great person. She was a good friend. She loved her kids so much. She was a stay-at-home mom with them. She was the friend that would always be there for us at a moment’s notice and she juggled having a boyfriend and a six-month-old baby and having three kids on top of that.”

Stains said Gosling didn’t talk much about her relationship with O’Shaugnessy. Golsing mentioned the couple had been having problems and were about to “take a break.” Despite this, Gosling had gushed to Stains in the past about how much she loved O’Shaugnessy and how he was her best friend.

Henderson said O’Shaugnessy played a huge role as a father figure to the children who were “full of life.” Recently, Jason Gosling had been spending a lot of time with the children, attending dance recitals and taking them to extra-curricular activities.

The Facebook group has 22,000 members from all over the world. Stains said people write about relationship or parenting questions.

“Tasha would get on there and listen for as long as you needed her to,” she said, adding Gosling wanted to make sure people didn’t feel alone through their struggle.

The distance between Stains and Gosling didn’t make a difference in their friendship.

“We talk all the time. She’s been my friend for two-and-a-half years,” Stains said.

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by Karin Yeske

Young mother formed strong friendships with support group

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