I wanted to share a little Terri with you.
This is a sad, but sweet story. Terri was my sister-in-law, but that is as far as that in-law title went. She was a sweet, caring and inspiring woman that took everything in stride. She was about 10 years older than me, and her wisdom was so far ahead that it takes me a couple of years to get it. Funny thing is that the last two years have been tough for me and her wisdom keept coming to the surface.
About Terri. She had been fighting a rough cough for over a month. The doctor decided to take her in and get x-rays. She was struck with the news that her lungs were covered with cancer. No, she wasn’t a smoker and in good health. Of course I did what we all do now a days. I dove into the internet to learn all I could. Found out that a partial lung transfer from a live donor to another was possible and successful for this situation. The day I was to present this information, they had further results of some other tests. The cancer was also down her back! She went in for aggressive treatment and the cancer went into remission for a little while. She never complained and everything was usually fine. Her strength was amazing to me. The Cancer came back and this time it was attacked her brain.
I wanted to do something special. Her husband’s folks, whom we love and adore, couldn’t travel anymore and it broke their heart. They wanted to do something too. I wanted to make a quilt. I wanted her to be surrounded with love. A signature quilt came to mind. Everyone was willing to participate. So, I shipped out bits of yellow fabric and pens everywhere. All the kids and some pets were the ones I’m sure that brought the biggest smile. She loved the kids and the doggies. I took a picture of Terri with her two girls cheek to cheek and found out later it was her daughter’s favorite picture. That picture was the feature of the quilt with bits of yellow all around. I changed the shirts a bit and had her wearing a yellow shirt to help tie in with the signature fabric.
The presentation of the quilt was just as important as what was in the quilt. We had extra family down and wanted to take advantage of the opportunity. All the adults gathered around and held the quilt and prayed positive thoughts and dreams into it. Then it was the kid’s turn. Keep in mind they were all boys. They got in a tight grouping with their hands held high and we put the quilt on top of them. They held the quilt high. We asked them to think of how it felt playing with their favorite toys, and then they screamed at the top of their lungs. Yes, we were outside! The point was to send in all the positive energy, and boy was there a lot of energy. Then we presented the energy quilt covered in love to Terri and she wrapped herself in it.
She lost her battle this last summer, but was around long enough to see her daughter get married. Even then she had the strength to still celebrate.
I will miss her very much.
ClaraLawrence
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