Celebrating an Angel Today

     Today was a day I had never thought about, a day I thought surely would be far away. Today at noon we gathered to celebrate the life of my second mom, Sherry. She took her spot in Heaven last week after deciding to stop the treatments for the cervical cancer she courageously battled for the past three years.

     When I first became friends with Tashia I think she actually warned me how goofy her parents could be. She was right. I loved Sherry's sense of humor. She would always have something to laugh about and could make a joke out of just about anything. Hanging around Tashia's house was never dull for sure. I will miss her jokes and laughter. Awhile ago I was talking to Tashia and she told me they were out picking wigs for mom. I jokingly told her to get a hot pink one...and Tashia told me mom had already tried that one on. Of course Sherry tried on the hot pink wig, I would expect nothing less. That kind of thing was always happening, she was just a naturally fun person to be around.
     Sherry was also incredibly kind. The picture above is from the day she brought my first horse, Annabelle, to me. I was absolutely overjoyed. Ever since I was a little girl I wanted a horse and after saving my money and working out all the details for her care I finally had my horse. I love that horse, and it pains me that she is no longer my own but I do still visit her from time to time. I wasn't the only one overjoyed, I could tell Sherry was happy that she was making a dream come true for me.
     Sherry treated me like one of her own, I would show up at random to the house to hang out and she never seemed annoyed to have an extra teenage girl in the house being all teenage-ery. Some of my favorite days were when Tashia and I would spend the weekends riding, eating and hanging around watching country music videos. Of course the videos all came with commentary from Sherry. She's the first person who ever told me I look like Leanne Rhymes too, I'm pretty sure she was just being nice.
     I remember in particular one evening I was hanging around with Tashia, and Sherry dragged us outside to watch the sunset from the front porch. Of course being the obnoxious teenage girls we were...well we didn't really care too much at the time. Hey, teenagers...whatta ya gonna do right? Anyways, she dragged our butts outside and said "Look at the sun set, it's almost gone!" and as the sun dropped below the purple mountains she said, "Plop! There is goes! Isn't it purty?" There is a good chance one of us rolled our eyes and giggled. My memory is a bit fuzzy but I remember really clearly what Sherry said. Now that I'm a little older and hopefully wiser I realize this trait of Sherry's was one of the best. She noticed the little and often beautiful moments in life when few others took the time to notice. Something as little as a pretty sunset was worth admiring to her. Others might just shrug and go "yeah...it's a sunset, whoop-dee-doo" but Sherry saw the uniqueness, and the beauty of it. That. That is an amazing thing.
     I will miss Sherry so much and my heart just breaks for my "other" dad and I hope to see his goofy grin once again someday. It kills me that my best friend who I consider a sister and who has been there through some of the toughest years in my life has to know this heartbreaking pain of losing your mom.  I know I miss Sherry but her family misses her even more than I do, it's hard to imagine that kind of hurt. Yet I know we all celebrate and rejoice that she has gone home, her body restored beyond perfection and she is dancing (most likely in the dorkiest way possible) in Heaven with God.

Mom, I miss you. I love you. I will see you again someday when us girls can all go riding together on streets paved with gold. 

Rest in Peace.

Help Sherry's Family
If you can spare even a few dollars I ask that you click the link above and donate to help the family cover the funeral expenses. With all the hurt of losing Sherry I pray they do not have to worry about money right now.