Chapter 18 - The Days of Courage, Valor and Love
With profound sadness, we lost our Mom soon after Dara's 2003 college graduation. What I remember most was the incredible devotion and loving daily care that Sheila provided, just as she had done with Dad.
And then, in mid 2012, when we realized how ill Sheila was, we were devastated, but all united in a single thought: to fill her remaining days with as much support, reassurance, and love that we could. The reality of losing her was overwhelming, but the concern for her comfort and ease of suffering was paramount!
She had always been there for all of us in a heartbeat! Sickness, health, joy, sorrow... Sheila was there... at your bedside in illness, driving you home from a doctor’s appointment, bringing you a bowl of warm soup, teaching a fascinating lesson, giving you incredibly generous and thoughtful gifts, dancing at your wedding, cradling your child, blowing out your birthday candles, chauffeuring you to games & practices, watching you graduate, helping you to set up your new apartment, making room for you in her home when you were between things in you life … you name it, she was there for you, with love, vigor, and gusto!
Toward the end she was courageous and upbeat, trying to follow doctors’ orders, getting through such day-to-day challenges and joys as having her car inspected, having lunch with friends, and trying to convince Dara's beloved, but not-too-picky German Shepherd, Jazz, that it wasn’t a good idea to devour several candy bars at once, especially when Jazz wasn’t going to bother removing the wrappers first!
Sheila lived out her final days with incredible strength, dignity, determination and guts. We gathered often at the end, holding her hand, telling funny stories, and reminding her always, always how very, very much we loved her, and conveying the beautiful messages that were sent by all of you, telling her that you felt the same!
My baby sister, that delightfully charming little companion that I was so blessed to have as a girl, had become a blazing rocket of a woman – Starship Sheila!
She was a loving, powerhouse of a daughter, making her parents proud throughout their lives, then lovingly and unfailingly caring for them at the end of those lives. She was the sister that I treasured more than words can say, and the one everyone would want – a loving, generous, supportive confidante, pal and role model.
She was an unusually gifted and generous educator and activist, with a keen understanding of the human mind and spirit. She was a devoted mother to her treasured Dara, giving her, throughout life, the attention, guidance and support that has stewarded Dara to becoming the beautiful, strong, intelligent, accomplished, and wickedly funny young woman that she is today.
Sheila was a Fairy Godmother of an aunt to Kelli and Kevin, and to all of us, especially the children in our family. When Ethan and Alden were little boys, she showed her magical presence, and as they grew she continured to give to them in immeasureable ways... birthday celebrations, football practices, LaCross games, Belmar summers... the list is endless. And when Alex and Julianna came along, they proved to be just more beautiful abundance in Sheila's treasure garden of wonderful children to love!
Always, always, she was that lovingly enchanting combination of fun, mischief, adventure, enlightenment, power and wonder. We miss you baby sis… we miss you beyond words!