Michelle Tracy-Ann Chin (Eulogy)  
From her brother Rohan Perry

Michelle (Ms. Chin) was such an amazing daughter, sister, mother, wife, aunt & best friend. Everyone who ever knew her was touched by her love. Thank you all for being here today to pay your respects and share your memories of my sister. Even though this “plandemic” has restricted a great amount of us from being here in the physical. Thank God for the technology so that many can be here via Zoom. Mom, Sean, her children, myself and our entire family – have been so blessed that so many have reached out with words of encouragement and care. We thank you.

Like a comet blazing across the evening sky
Gone too soon
Like a rainbow fading in the twinkling of an eye
Gone too soon

Shiny and sparkly and splendidly bright
Here one day gone one night
Like the loss of sunlight on a cloudy afternoon
Gone too soon

Like a castle built upon a sandy beach
Gone too soon

Like a perfect flower that is just beyond your reach
Gone too soon

Born to amuse, to inspire, to delight
Here one day gone one night
Like a sunset dying with the rising of the moon
Gone too soon, Gone too soon

I stand before you today, the representative of our family in grief. We are all united not only in our desire to pay our respects to Michelle, but rather in our need to do so. Michelle Tracy-Ann Chin, the third & only girl child for our mother, was born on November 16, 1980. We grew up together at Lincoln Avenue, in Arnett Gardens, then relocated to our family home in Seiwright Gardens, Lower Mall Road, Cassia Crescent in 1990. Life was just awesome for us as we made it to be in both of those communities. She attended the Citizens Advice Bureau Basic School, popularly known as RJR Basic School, then moved on to Rousseau Primary School in 1987, where she passed her Common Entrance Examinations to Holy Childhood in 1992. She graduated from that institution in 1997, where she did well. From there she did various jobs, while at all times improving her education. She then ventured into the insurance brokerage work force, working at Covenant Insurance Brokers Ltd. from where she was recruited by Fraser, Fontaine & Kong Insurance Brokers Ltd., because of her great work ethics, where she has been for over 10 years up to her passing. During her life’s sojourning, she met & fell in love with Sean Newell, where God blessed them with 3 boys. Shavoy aka “Sean D”, Tai & Liam. Unfortunately, they lost Tai just one day after his birth, but God saw their pain & blessed them with Liam a year after.

When my sister was born, I knew a little treasure had entered our lives. Even though she had taken my “wash belly” status from me. But to see the joy on my mother’s face, of finally getting her daughter that she hoped & prayed to have gotten, said it all. When she brought her home, my sister was still covered in the Johnson baby powder that my mother ate during her pregnancy. I didn’t know how that happened but it did. It took my mother months to get it all out of her hair. My beautiful chiney, mixed up with coolie & a touch of African sister, was the apple of my mother’s eyes. Especially when it came unto plaiting her long hair. She really enjoyed doing that a lot. She had a pair of knock knees back then that was just adorable, that made me laugh though, but who loved wearing shorts like her though. Everywhere it was me & my sister. She was my parry. We went some far places by ourselves, with our mother’s permission of course, without fear. I wasn’t the kind of brother to shun her, but to encourage her in everything. I cherished her so much. I will forever miss those call of “Mi bredda or Rohan”, when it was a concerning situation. She hated confrontations & would easily cry when blamed for anything or if she was the cause of anything that wasn’t done right that involved her. My sister loved her family tremendously & would give her all to assist us in every way possible, by giving us even her last to make us happy. And has an extent people around her benefitted from that very same jovial, loving & compassionate individual. That soft caring heart, going leaps & bound, even for those very same persons who had hurt her. She was always looking for the good in others no matter what. In other words, my sister was a younger version of our mother, who always tells us “Love & help people no matter what” for it is of God & it is right. That was their purpose & nuh matter what we said that wasn’t going to change anytime soon.

My sister was always a unifier. Easter, Independence Day & Christmas dinners, she would make arrangement for all of us to come with our families. She loved getting gifts for the children. She loved sharing the achievements of her children & documented them through photos, voice-notes & short videos. She did this over & over again, even up to her passing. She was a quiet & well-organized individual in everything she did. Color coding stuff, filing away documents like it was an office, etc. She had her life all planned out to the tee, even through the obstacles that life’s challenges brought. She was determined to achieve. And when our mother started to file for her & her children to come to the US, this was a great opportunity to do so. That filing was near completion and she was so happy the whole Mother’s Day weekend to hear this news. I spoke to my sister after midday on Wednesday. Checking up to hear how she was feeling. She said my brother I’m ok, just feeling weak that’s all. One moment we were celebrating, giving thanks, speaking of all that she was going to do before leaving and when she reaches over there. Then it was all gone in a second by early Thursday morning. Half of me at that moment went also. There is no doubt that she was looking for that new direction in her life at this time.

Today is our chance to say thank you for the way you brightened our lives, even though God granted you but half a life. We will all feel cheated always that you were taken from us so young and yet we must learn to be grateful that you came along at all. Only now that you are gone do we truly appreciate what we are now without and we want you to know that life without you is very, very difficult.

We have all despaired at our loss over the past weeks. We are comforted by the word of the living God in Matthew 5 v4 which says “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted”, along with the many prayers & well-wishes, and also strengthened by the message that she gave us through her years of giving. These have afforded us the courage to move forward.

My sister lived her life well, I always encouraged her to have a relationship with Christ, put everything to him in prayer. Live for him. I guess in her purpose she was doing so. She was always concerned about our mother, her two boys and her Seanie. She would want us today to pledge ourselves to protecting them all. And beyond that, I pledge that we will do all we can to continue the ways she displayed daily. That soft caring heart, going leaps & bound for family & people in spite of.

I would like to end by thanking God for the mercies he has shown us at this heartbreaking time. Above all we give thanks for the life of a woman I am so proud to be able to call my sister, the unique, the jovial, the extraordinary, the caring, compassionate, kind, humble, sweet-hearted and irreplaceable Ms. Chin. Whose beauty, both internal and external, will never be extinguished from our minds. It’s said that those who touch our lives inspire us and love us. And they do so for a lifetime.

Today again, we honor and celebrate her life and her love. A daughter, sister, mother, wife, aunt & best friend. Gone Too Soon.