Miss you now as much as ever. Wishing you were here but glad you are somewhere better. Last year we had more loss but we also celebrated love. The anchor holds. Please continue to watch over us and pray for us. Rest in perfect peace Mom. ❤️

It’s been 10 years. Somehow it seems it’s been longer. Feels like it’s been a Iifetime not having you around. Such a gaping hole that I’m constantly reminded of. Every time it comes to mind, it’s like I can’t understand, it seems unbearable, and I can’t breathe. But somehow I just manage to keep on going. And now…it’s 10 years later. How can we go another 10 years without you here? We need you to continue being as present as you often are. Dropping your little nuggets so that we remember that you are still with us in spirit. Just yesterday, i went to a crafts store (yes, me) and felt you wash over me immediately as I picked out a flower stem. You loved your arrangements! Stay with me, Mom!

What is grief, if not love persevering….

I am grateful for my tether to the light
Because on days like this ....
I am grateful
Days when the darkness beckons
The welcoming surrender to the void
The warm embrace of careless nothingness draws near
The silent comfort of not being
As the emptiness approaches
I feel the tug back towards the pain
Towards the struggle of being
I will turn once again to the light
Maybe not today
But I will not be lost in the depths
No matter how far I descend
If I remember gratitude
It is the tether to the light

So proud of your Angel, Naomi. She has been especially helpful during this pandemic and graduated 7th grade with all A+s. Continue to watch over us all, unbelievable that it’s been 8 years. Life is fleeting....miss you.

Running away from feelings this year. Trying to claim joy, burying myself in the mundane. Stop striving, start serving! Loving you, celebrating you, always and forever ❤️.

Thank you! For everything you did, you do, I will forever be grateful. I am learning to let go of the bitterness so God’s Glory can shine brighter and His grace fall upon us and His peace dwell within. The anchor holds ❤️

❤️❤️❤️ Happy Birthday! Celebrated on the 1st with the kids this year. Thanks for all your wonderful lessons that I can’t go a day without applying or sharing! Forever loved!

Mom you’ve been in my ear and in my dreams a lot lately. I’m seeing your face, hearing your words, and feeling your presence. But somehow it’s still not enough. How do I continue to hold on as tight enough for the memories to last? How many memories are enough for you not to fade away? I feel like my life would be different somehow if you were still around. Your spirit was/is too large not to spread to everyone and everything around you. I wish one day to become some version of you, any version. I’m working on it, Mom. I know you’re watching...

A young soul lost inexplicably while joy blooms all around
Miss you when high
Miss you when low
Still so crippled by my loss
Yet so grateful I can walk
I pray you are near
Yet wish you are not
I wish you far from anguish and despair
Far from worry and from fear
Singing in angelic choirs
Telling heroic tales
Sharing your wisdom with others
Rejoicing
I wish you rejoicing
Leave the despair to me
Your fight is over ❤️

Celebrating what a wonderful Mother you are today! We continue to feel your love in big and small ways. Words cannot express the sorrow of missing you, nor the joy of having had you! Forever missed, Forever loved, Forever grateful, Forever blessed!

Today was harder than I was prepared for. Those final days have been more present lately due to my needing to go back to the ICU with a patient. Even though hard, I felt that you were looking out for my patient as you often prayed for anyone I was worried about in the past. I felt so alone but not so much after I talked to the others. They give me courage, those two. Anyway, looking back at last years note...you came pouring down on July 1st, 2016. We took flowers to Holy cross today and Noelle said excitedly that we should bring balloons on your birthday. Naomi wanted to pray, so she led a prayer and asked God to look after you. 5 years of missing you, only an eternity to go....

It's just past midnight, thinking of you on your birthday and always.

Always will light a candle for you, and never lay a flower. Your life was light, a beacon of love. A moment of silence for you may happen soon, but how shall I stay quiet as I mourn...I know you will be there July 1st, but don't show up as rain, this time. Missing you always.

I found this online and felt you speaking these words to ALL your children and little angels!

A Mother’s Message From Heaven
I see you my darlings, all the time,
I know everything you do.
Would you believe, my dearest children
I’m even closer now to you!
I can see inside your minds,
Indeed, inside your hearts,
I even know you better now,
Than I did before, sweethearts.
I’ve always loved you – you know that,
But maybe now I love you more,
I love the adults that you’ve become,
Just as I loved the child before.
I know how much you miss me,
Well, I surely miss you, too.
I miss our talking and our laughing,
And all we used to do.
Whether you are six or sixty,
You’ll always be my precious child.
You’re the babies that I carried
And the adults that helped me smile.
What you need to understand,
Though death has taken me away,
Is that I’ve not left you, my darlings.
I am still with you today.
My family, I could never leave you;
God, of course, would not want that.
Physically, we are apart,
But our hearts are still attached.
I love you all the time,
You cannot get away from me.
That’s the way a Mother is
Right until eternity.
Every day I’m with you
I see you from above,
And I want for you to know
How very much you’re dearly loved.

Dear Mother, your love never dims, it continues to light our way!

Naomi recalled the last time she saw you today. She said she hugged you goodbye as you lay in bed after a hospital visit. I was surprised she had such an accurate memory, describing details of the hospital even though she didn't know the name. She also recalled how you comforted her after she had bad dreams. She said you are her best Grandma! Noelle knows you named her Hadassah, and called her your Queen! Please continue to watch over us. Deeply missing you!

Thinking of you today, wishing you were here especially at this time. Happy Birthday, let Uncle know he is loved and missed, wish I could have told him one more time. Don't even know what to say about Nadia..."For tomorrow and it's needs, I do not pray; but keep me, guide me, love me Lord, just for today."

Maam though i havent seen you before, but your works have spoken well for you. Sleep well in the bossom of our Lord Jesus Christ. Condolence from the family of Late Kolawole Samuel OLADELE, Oyo State, Nigeria

The anchor holds, mommy, only because you lodged it down deep, where grief and anger couldn't pull it out! The ship is battered, but the anchor holds. We miss you dearly, some days, it doesn't seem possible that this is real. I do know you are at peace, forever missing you, love, Bola.

Mommy I miss you so very much

May the lord keep the family she left behinde and grant her eternal resting . Sleep well till resurrection morning. Gudnite ma .

I can't comprehend how difficult this time must be for you guys. I am so, so sorry for d lost. I want you guys to know that am praying for the family, and wishing you guys strength as you all deal with so much grief.

Oluwasina Oke.

Dear Mommy Akanbi,
I miss you so much and it still hasn't hit me that you're not with us anymore. It hurt me the most that I wasn't able to attend your funeral because I'm in Houston. You always taught me to be myself and to please myself rather than those around me. You also ALWAYS reminded me to smile. I love you and miss you. Love your baby <3

Mr. Akanbi, Bola, Nike, Yemi and all of your family and friends--My thoughts and prayers are with you. I truly loved Mrs. Akanbi and she touched my heart in a special way. She was the definition of a Proverbs 31 woman and I will always remember our conversations, prayers and times that we laughed together. I know she is rejoicing with God! Love You all!

Dear Bola, Nike, and Yemi,

My sincere condolences to you guys, I love you and I am praying for you. Thank you for being such wonderful children to your mother, she loved you guys dearly - she was simply the best!

Dear Aunty Eunice
Thank you for touching my life in so many ways....I know you are now resting in the Lord. Surely you will be missed by so many but the Lord knows better than all of us. I find comfort in these verses John 10:27-30
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me; and I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand.

SERVICES to be held at Praise Tabernacle
SERVICE OF SONGS, FRI JULY 6 @ 6pm
FUNERAL SERVICE, SAT JULY 7 @ 10am (Reflection Hour @ 9a)

A woman after God's own heart is gone.My big sister,mentor on many levels,trusted friend,prayer partner,'Godmother' to my 3 'little angels'.The bravest ,smartest most courageous woman Iknow is gone.I miss you terribly.I'm blessed to have known you.Rest in peace till we meet to part no more.