Jeff's sister, Cherie passed away a couple of hours ago.
I don't know yet what to say, where to begin, or how to comfort Jeff and his family.
So I have been laying in bed, just praying.
Now I need to write. Writing helps me to process, to sort out my feelings, to face situations a little better.
Cherie was 49 years old. She had been battling cancer since late February 2006. I remember when her battle began because she was trying to reach Jeff to tell him as he was driving across country to begin his new job here in Salem.
It has been a long and difficult fight, but Cherie's fight is now over.
My faith teaches me that she is in a wonderful place, that she has joined the communion of saints that have gone before her, that the God that I believe in has greeted her with open arms, with love, and with forgiveness. I imagine Cherie is experiencing the exquisite joy and love that comes only from being in God's presence.
That is the Life part. The belief in an everlasting life that transforms us as we move from life here to eternal life.
Those of us left behind that love Cherie, and will miss Cherie, we are the ones that struggle with the Death part. Especially John her husband, Gary and Earline her parents, Jeff, Debbie, Kim and Chris her siblings, Shannon and Josh her children, and so many others now struggle to find a way to fill the emptiness in their hearts. Death is the hard part left for those who are still living here.
It is for those left behind that I pray the most.
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