In memory of Angelic Howell
Donation protected
Angelic Junine Howell
10/2/2002 - 7/5/2018
Daughter of John and Daveda Howell
Sister of J.R., Xander, and Bella Howell
The sudden death of a child always takes a toll on a family. Final expenses are just part of it, but then there are other things that also come up, such as lost wages, grief counseling, trying to make the home normal again, etc.
During the transition time from grieving to healing towards a "new normal" life, having bills come in that really aren't in the budget can often serve as a reminder of the devastation, making it raw again.
This donation that you could make will go far in the healing process. So often, people ask what they can do. This family is the one family that would absolutely be there right in the middle of everything making sure that the grieving family was well taken care of. They would not only be there during the weeks after the death, but they would remember that there was still a loss during different times like birthdays and Christmases and other holidays. Now is the time that their sacrificial and serving attitude can be returned to them.
If you don't already know the story, this is what happened leading up to Angelic's passing into the arms of her Savior as best as we can piece together.
On July 4th, she and a bunch of other youth group friends had come over for a cookout and hanging out at the marina where I live. Around 8:30, the kids started leaving in different cars to do various things all headed in the same direction. The ultimate goal was to get fireworks and go over to another youth group mom, Laura Fenn's house to shoot off fireworks with her children, Emma and True.
When I arrived at their house at about 9:45, everyone was having a blast shooting off fireworks. After fireworks, the kids all piled up in Emma's room and goofed around and hung out until close to 3 a.m. when J.R., Angelic's oldest brother, took his brother and twin sisters home.
When they got home at 3 a.m., They visited with their mom for a bit. (Yes, they are a late night family: staying up until early morning hours and sleeping during the mid and late morning hours waking up in the afternoon as a more regular type of schedule.) They told their mom about the fireworks and fun. Angelic told her of a new story she is writing.
The last thing Angelic told her mom was, "If you're ever sad, angry, or mad, anything besides happy or joyful, just say beep boop under your breath until you feel better."
Angelic made her oldest brother, J.R.'s lunch for work, in which she enjoyed writing silly notes, and talked to J.R. a bit. Her dad was working out of town, or she would have made his too.
She was heading to the shower when her brother, Xander, told her not to worry about letting them know when she was out of the shower because he would just take a shower when he got up.
When Angelic had gotten out of the shower, she had grabbed a kiwi fruit and gone to the large upstairs room she shared with her twin sister, Bella, and told her that she could take a shower and then excitedly added, "I've got a kiwi!"
Angelic then went to a curtained off area where her bed was, shut the curtains, sat down on her bed, started watching Princess Bride on her phone, and began to peel and eat her kiwi fruit. She was sitting cross-legged on her bed in an upright position facing the head of the bed and window where her phone was propped up on the sill.
And then, something happened, and she passed away.
Because this thing happened as she was going to bed after a long, busy day, she was not discovered until probably about 10 or 12 hours later when her mother realized that the girls had not come downstairs, and it was time for them to start getting ready for youth group.
Daveda, her mom, called up the stairs to tell the girls to get up. Bella called out, but there wasn't even a groan from Angelic. Her mom then went upstairs and opened up her curtains to wake her.
That was not going to happen.
She found Angelic flat on her back with her legs crossed, indian style, her body facing the head of her bed as if she had been sitting up. At first, her mother didn't realize anything was off because she wasn't in exactly and unusual position for her. But then her mother shook her and realized that she had passed away.
Angelic had fallen back and appeared to have drawn her hands up to her chest, somehow skinning the bridge of her nose as she fell. Her face was blue & purple and against the wall by her bed, her eyes slightly open like they normally are when she sleeps, lips apart. But she was already so cold and stiff.
We believe that by the time she fell back, she was already gone, evidenced by the fact that the skinned mark on the bridge of her nose never bled, possibly indicating that her heart had just stopped, but we can't be sure. Her kiwi and the knife that she was using to peel it were still right there on her pillow. The kiwi was not all the way peeled or eaten.
Whatever it was happened very quickly. She didn't call out for help, reach less than a foot above her to grab the curtin at the foot of her bed, flail about in a panicked manner, or even shift her body. Her feet were still tucked under, and her arms were at her chest. Her mother's screaming completely woke up Angelic's twin sister, Bella, and alerted her brother, Xander, from downstairs.
They called nine-one-one and were instructed to do chest compressions. I'm sure Daveda was aware that they were in vain, but it was her daughter, so she complied, hoping against hope.
Angelic is in heaven, but her body is with the coroner awaiting an autopsy. When the autopsy results are in, I will update this, but they expect that to be about a month or so.
Angelic's life was full of love and kindness and strength and spunk. She was absolutely the opposite of a typical 15 year old girl, and was remembered fondly by everyone who knew her. I honestly can't imagine anyone having a negative feeling about her because, even though she was a teenage girl who I'm sure had her fair share of problems in quirks, she was spectacular. Her entire family is spectacular. And, through this GoFundMe, we simply want to give back to them.
So please prayerfullypraye what you can if you are able; even $5 means a lot. Also praying for wisdom, understanding, peace, comfort, strength, support, encouragement, and healing.
Also... Angelic would probably be pissed off if I didn't take this opportunity to tell you this: She knew her Savior and served him very well in her short life. She's in heaven now, and she wants to meet you there. It doesn't matter if she knows you now or not, she wants to meet you in heaven.
If you don't believe in God, look around. There is so much evidence of a loving creator in nature, in the skies, at the cellular level, and in the seasons. However, there is also sin that has entered the world and corrupted God's creation. God wants us to reunite with him in heaven one day, but he has to have goodness and love around him because evil just isn't his cup of tea.
God set up a system that the price of sin is death, which is separation from God, which is why Lucifer was kicked out of heaven and has become what we know as Satan.
God couldn't stand that evil had corrupted his special creation of mankind, so he set up a solution whereby we would not have to pay the death penalty associated with sin. Instead, he entered into humanity and lived amongst us in the person of Christ Jesus. Even though life was pretty hard for Christ Jesus in his humanity, he remained sinless.
After living and loving and teaching us during the 33 years of his life, he allowed himself to be taken and beaten and mocked and spat upon and then hanged on a crucifix. Death by crucifixion typically takes a long long time, sometimes as long as three or four days. However, Jesus would not have died even if he had to hang out there for a month because he had never sinned. But while he was hanging on that cross, he looked at the people at the foot of the cross - many were loved ones that he had lived with daily, many were lost people who had not believed that he was the promised Messiah, many were people who simply wanted to get rid of him because he didn't fit in with their religious ideals. And so, as Jesus hung there with a sign over his head proclaiming him to be the king of the Jews, he offered love and forgiveness and remained sinless until he could not bear the heartache of seeing so many people that he loved suffering at the sight of him, so he, in a moment, took upon the weight of the sin debt for all of the world. At that moment, he became sin for us, and could no longer feel the presence of his father in Heaven. In a cry of anguish, he gave his life as a payment that would satisfy the obligation of the sin debt, so that you might believe upon him and his sacrifice nearly 2,000 years later and have an opportunity to have your sins covered by his shed blood, washing you into a purity as white as snow.
This is not something that is forced upon you. It is a gift. You can receive it or reject it. You can live your life for yourself, catering it to your own whims and pleasures, or you can enter into a relationship with the savior and live your life for him in gratitude of what he has done for you. That doesn't mean that your life won't be fun, because it will be incredible. But it also doesn't mean that your life will not be without trials and tribulations because, in this sinful world, you, the redeemed child of God, will be the enemy of the evil that wants to keep people in a perpetual state of emptiness and hopelessness for an eternal future.
The choice is yours. No one can make it for you. No one can judge the authenticity of it. No one can force it upon you. It has to be your decision. If you're not sure about where you stand with God, just ask somebody who is sure. And then compare what they are saying with the scripture. two excellent books of the bible to read to get started are John and Romans.
If you're one that would more be inclined to watch videos, there is a great video series to get you started called Alpha. You can download the entire series at Alpha.org/run or watch it on YouTube.
Alpha Film Series: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXFzP_EeFph8ywYdhLjxTEwXJIyDe1pn1
Peace be with you! Thank you in advance for your generosity and prayers.
10/2/2002 - 7/5/2018
Daughter of John and Daveda Howell
Sister of J.R., Xander, and Bella Howell
The sudden death of a child always takes a toll on a family. Final expenses are just part of it, but then there are other things that also come up, such as lost wages, grief counseling, trying to make the home normal again, etc.
During the transition time from grieving to healing towards a "new normal" life, having bills come in that really aren't in the budget can often serve as a reminder of the devastation, making it raw again.
This donation that you could make will go far in the healing process. So often, people ask what they can do. This family is the one family that would absolutely be there right in the middle of everything making sure that the grieving family was well taken care of. They would not only be there during the weeks after the death, but they would remember that there was still a loss during different times like birthdays and Christmases and other holidays. Now is the time that their sacrificial and serving attitude can be returned to them.
If you don't already know the story, this is what happened leading up to Angelic's passing into the arms of her Savior as best as we can piece together.
On July 4th, she and a bunch of other youth group friends had come over for a cookout and hanging out at the marina where I live. Around 8:30, the kids started leaving in different cars to do various things all headed in the same direction. The ultimate goal was to get fireworks and go over to another youth group mom, Laura Fenn's house to shoot off fireworks with her children, Emma and True.
When I arrived at their house at about 9:45, everyone was having a blast shooting off fireworks. After fireworks, the kids all piled up in Emma's room and goofed around and hung out until close to 3 a.m. when J.R., Angelic's oldest brother, took his brother and twin sisters home.
When they got home at 3 a.m., They visited with their mom for a bit. (Yes, they are a late night family: staying up until early morning hours and sleeping during the mid and late morning hours waking up in the afternoon as a more regular type of schedule.) They told their mom about the fireworks and fun. Angelic told her of a new story she is writing.
The last thing Angelic told her mom was, "If you're ever sad, angry, or mad, anything besides happy or joyful, just say beep boop under your breath until you feel better."
Angelic made her oldest brother, J.R.'s lunch for work, in which she enjoyed writing silly notes, and talked to J.R. a bit. Her dad was working out of town, or she would have made his too.
She was heading to the shower when her brother, Xander, told her not to worry about letting them know when she was out of the shower because he would just take a shower when he got up.
When Angelic had gotten out of the shower, she had grabbed a kiwi fruit and gone to the large upstairs room she shared with her twin sister, Bella, and told her that she could take a shower and then excitedly added, "I've got a kiwi!"
Angelic then went to a curtained off area where her bed was, shut the curtains, sat down on her bed, started watching Princess Bride on her phone, and began to peel and eat her kiwi fruit. She was sitting cross-legged on her bed in an upright position facing the head of the bed and window where her phone was propped up on the sill.
And then, something happened, and she passed away.
Because this thing happened as she was going to bed after a long, busy day, she was not discovered until probably about 10 or 12 hours later when her mother realized that the girls had not come downstairs, and it was time for them to start getting ready for youth group.
Daveda, her mom, called up the stairs to tell the girls to get up. Bella called out, but there wasn't even a groan from Angelic. Her mom then went upstairs and opened up her curtains to wake her.
That was not going to happen.
She found Angelic flat on her back with her legs crossed, indian style, her body facing the head of her bed as if she had been sitting up. At first, her mother didn't realize anything was off because she wasn't in exactly and unusual position for her. But then her mother shook her and realized that she had passed away.
Angelic had fallen back and appeared to have drawn her hands up to her chest, somehow skinning the bridge of her nose as she fell. Her face was blue & purple and against the wall by her bed, her eyes slightly open like they normally are when she sleeps, lips apart. But she was already so cold and stiff.
We believe that by the time she fell back, she was already gone, evidenced by the fact that the skinned mark on the bridge of her nose never bled, possibly indicating that her heart had just stopped, but we can't be sure. Her kiwi and the knife that she was using to peel it were still right there on her pillow. The kiwi was not all the way peeled or eaten.
Whatever it was happened very quickly. She didn't call out for help, reach less than a foot above her to grab the curtin at the foot of her bed, flail about in a panicked manner, or even shift her body. Her feet were still tucked under, and her arms were at her chest. Her mother's screaming completely woke up Angelic's twin sister, Bella, and alerted her brother, Xander, from downstairs.
They called nine-one-one and were instructed to do chest compressions. I'm sure Daveda was aware that they were in vain, but it was her daughter, so she complied, hoping against hope.
Angelic is in heaven, but her body is with the coroner awaiting an autopsy. When the autopsy results are in, I will update this, but they expect that to be about a month or so.
Angelic's life was full of love and kindness and strength and spunk. She was absolutely the opposite of a typical 15 year old girl, and was remembered fondly by everyone who knew her. I honestly can't imagine anyone having a negative feeling about her because, even though she was a teenage girl who I'm sure had her fair share of problems in quirks, she was spectacular. Her entire family is spectacular. And, through this GoFundMe, we simply want to give back to them.
So please prayerfullypraye what you can if you are able; even $5 means a lot. Also praying for wisdom, understanding, peace, comfort, strength, support, encouragement, and healing.
Also... Angelic would probably be pissed off if I didn't take this opportunity to tell you this: She knew her Savior and served him very well in her short life. She's in heaven now, and she wants to meet you there. It doesn't matter if she knows you now or not, she wants to meet you in heaven.
If you don't believe in God, look around. There is so much evidence of a loving creator in nature, in the skies, at the cellular level, and in the seasons. However, there is also sin that has entered the world and corrupted God's creation. God wants us to reunite with him in heaven one day, but he has to have goodness and love around him because evil just isn't his cup of tea.
God set up a system that the price of sin is death, which is separation from God, which is why Lucifer was kicked out of heaven and has become what we know as Satan.
God couldn't stand that evil had corrupted his special creation of mankind, so he set up a solution whereby we would not have to pay the death penalty associated with sin. Instead, he entered into humanity and lived amongst us in the person of Christ Jesus. Even though life was pretty hard for Christ Jesus in his humanity, he remained sinless.
After living and loving and teaching us during the 33 years of his life, he allowed himself to be taken and beaten and mocked and spat upon and then hanged on a crucifix. Death by crucifixion typically takes a long long time, sometimes as long as three or four days. However, Jesus would not have died even if he had to hang out there for a month because he had never sinned. But while he was hanging on that cross, he looked at the people at the foot of the cross - many were loved ones that he had lived with daily, many were lost people who had not believed that he was the promised Messiah, many were people who simply wanted to get rid of him because he didn't fit in with their religious ideals. And so, as Jesus hung there with a sign over his head proclaiming him to be the king of the Jews, he offered love and forgiveness and remained sinless until he could not bear the heartache of seeing so many people that he loved suffering at the sight of him, so he, in a moment, took upon the weight of the sin debt for all of the world. At that moment, he became sin for us, and could no longer feel the presence of his father in Heaven. In a cry of anguish, he gave his life as a payment that would satisfy the obligation of the sin debt, so that you might believe upon him and his sacrifice nearly 2,000 years later and have an opportunity to have your sins covered by his shed blood, washing you into a purity as white as snow.
This is not something that is forced upon you. It is a gift. You can receive it or reject it. You can live your life for yourself, catering it to your own whims and pleasures, or you can enter into a relationship with the savior and live your life for him in gratitude of what he has done for you. That doesn't mean that your life won't be fun, because it will be incredible. But it also doesn't mean that your life will not be without trials and tribulations because, in this sinful world, you, the redeemed child of God, will be the enemy of the evil that wants to keep people in a perpetual state of emptiness and hopelessness for an eternal future.
The choice is yours. No one can make it for you. No one can judge the authenticity of it. No one can force it upon you. It has to be your decision. If you're not sure about where you stand with God, just ask somebody who is sure. And then compare what they are saying with the scripture. two excellent books of the bible to read to get started are John and Romans.
If you're one that would more be inclined to watch videos, there is a great video series to get you started called Alpha. You can download the entire series at Alpha.org/run or watch it on YouTube.
Alpha Film Series: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXFzP_EeFph8ywYdhLjxTEwXJIyDe1pn1
Peace be with you! Thank you in advance for your generosity and prayers.
Organizer and beneficiary
Debi Westerman Dixon
Organizer
Mobile, AL
Daveda Howell
Beneficiary