I was returning to school when I
got a call that my aunt had taken a turn for the worst. It had only been a week
or two before that I learned of her illness, cancer. She had kept this a secret
for a very long time, even from my mom whom she had seen months before at a
camp. My aunt was 39 years old and dying. Having lost two aunts to breast
cancer (2008, 2010) I could not imagine losing another, so I sank. My spirit
seemed to ebb away at the news. How could God be so cruel to me? How could he do this to my
family? My grandfather lost his brother in April and now this? Was he bound
to lose the daughter he always hoped for? Should my grandmother bury her baby? In all my questioning and lamentations I never thought about
her. I was selfish.
A GoFundMe page was started for my aunt and though I had
previously sentenced her to death somewhere in my mind, hope began to blossom. As I looked at the page I kept thinking that she might just make it. God would listen and prolong
her life. He would let not ignore so many people. Again, I thought only of
myself and my feelings.
On August 22nd I was returning to school when I
got a call that my aunt had taken a turn for the worst. Auntie Shirley was
dying. Daddy (grandfather) and Uncle Geoff were trying to get to her before she
left this world. She left before they made and heartbroken I woke at 4am to
hear that she was dead on August 23rd.
A lot happened after that but the most incredible thing was
the outpouring of grief and love that I saw on social media. It was as if
everyone on my timeline had lost her. That is when I was reminded of a movie
called 300. It tells of the Spartans that fought against the tyranny of the
Persian king who thought himself a god, Xerxes. The Greeks craved death that meant
something and Xerxes sook to threaten that. As he spoke to the Spartan king Leonidas he told
that he would destroy them, no songs would be sung about Sparta, and no artist
would sculpt or paint them. The historians would lose their tongues if they
ever uttered the name.
The enemy tried to do that to my aunt, but here I am
writing. Shirley touched and inspired so many lived that she will live forever.
My aunt the go getter, lover of God and all of his creation closed her eyes and
died the most glorious death. She died knowing that she was loved and that it
was well with her soul. She died knowing that if she had stayed here longer she
would have suffered too much. God gave her what she could bare and kept her
smiling through it all. The best thing about her death is that one day she will
have the most glorious event. God will tell his angels to go break the
beautiful tomb in which she now lays. On that day He will say “Shirley Amorette
Fleming you’ve had enough rest come be reunited with your family and live
gloriously, forever.”
XOXO,
IslandGyal
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