Skip to main content

My sister died

I never thought in a million years that I would have to say, "My sister died." Her name is Alycia. She fought a long fight with cancer that ended up wreaking havoc on her body. I loved her. I loved her deeply.

It is surreal that she no longer takes up space on the planet. I was there when she died. I saw her in the casket and saw the casket lowered to the ground.

The last time I talked to her was the Thursday before she passed. She was not using a lot of words, but she knew I was there. She told me she loved me and that she knew that I loved her. The rest of the time was moaning here and there. She wanted me to move some pillows. That was the last time. On Friday, we turned her, cleaned her, and talked to her, but she could not respond. One Saturday, I went in throughout the night to make sure she was breathing. I missed her 1 a.m. meds, but woke up about 5 a.m. or so and gave her a dose. Talked to her. I went back asleep and got on a prayer call about 7. Before I got on the call, I checked on her.

When the prayer call was over, I went into her room and she was gone. I am extremely grateful that I was there at the end. Words cannot express my sense of peace around that.

We knew she was sick. We knew she wasn't improving. We knew her prognosis was not good. But her death came too soon. She was gone too soon. It hurts to think about her. To see pictures of her smiling. To remember her pains. To remember the chemo sessions, the hospital visits. It hurst to remember playing with her when we were little. Fighting with her as a teenager. Laughing with her. It hurts.


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Church on Trial

  Church on Trial He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God? Micah 6:8 Here’s a brief summary of Micah 6. Through the prophet, God put His people on trial and, as if in court, made a case against them. He testified of His goodness to them and witnessed that they had rebelled and rejected Him in return. After being put on trial, the people replied to His charge by essentially saying, “You ask too much!” They listed a string of rituals and impossible requests. They essentially told God that He was impossible to please. “What do You want from us?”, they implored. God’s response was one not filled with rules and temple rituals, but one that instructs them on how to ultimately please Him. What was God saying through the prophet? What is He saying to His people? Do Justice. Love Mercy. Walk Humbly. Do Justice - Give yourselves to others and, don't just seek justice, but serve justice. Ac...
Post a Comment
Read more

Back to Basics

As a young singer in high school, I had the privilege of being able to take voice lessons. Altogether, I took lessons for about 15 years or so. Although singing can be fun and is a performance art, voice lessons are not very glamorous. It is marked by hours of mundane practice - woodshedding. The most common teaching theme I learned was, “Don’t get too fancy” and “Practice the fundamentals.” They stressed that for me to grow as a vocalist, I needed to practice my vocalises and stick with the basics of sound vocal production. Only then would I be able to perform increasingly difficult pieces. The Apostle Peter instructs, "Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation." (1 Peter 2:2 NIV) Peter’s allusion to babies and milk is interesting. How basic is that? I’m reminded of the instruction given to us in my childhood congregation when someone got saved. The instruction was to 1) Read your bible and pray daily and 2) Fast. It was ...
Post a Comment
Read more