I’d like to share a story about a beautiful woman who has colorectal cancer and, I whole-heartedly believe, was chosen to be a public servant in her own special way to all people from God.  This woman is my younger sister Sherri.  We grew up in a household of 3 girls; two of us were twins which included me, and Sherri was the youngest – 5 years behind us.  Five years apart doesn’t sound like much, but it is during a certain generation of years in your youthhood.   Eventually one day, our years of adulthood pretty much were in sync and there wasn’t any difference in all three of us other the number of years.  We all grew very close as sisters and love each other very much.  We all have different personalities, but Sherri’s had a stronger compassionate nature.  She was small and tiny growing up, but had a big personality.  She has been the most selfless person I have known in my entire life.  She has always seen the good in every person.  She has given teens, adolescents, and adults a roof over their head with food to eat in a time of need with no reward to herself other than always doing good deeds for others.  She has never turned anyone down.  Her heart is as big of a golden heart as you could possibly imagine.  She opens her home to anyone on holidays if they don’t have a place to go, regardless of space.  She is a wonderful Aunt and has been there as a support mechanism many times for all of our children, as well as her own two sons. She raised them as a single mother, and was determined to put them both through college on her own with or without help.

Her selflessness didn’t stop there.  She has worked as a Teacher’s Aide for over a decade at a high school working with teenage adolescents who have special needs.  She opens her mind, heart, and soul to all of these children and they all love her.  Sherri has always taken care of others before taking care of herself.

She was starting to fall ill and have health issues.  Naturally, she put them off and thought they would go away.  They didn’t.  She was diagnosed with colorectal cancer.  Our family, including all of her friends and even her students were all devastated.  Her students were so upset, the even cried for her.  She had a tumor that had grown within the walls, which normally does not have a high percentage of any good outcome.  She immediately started chemotherapy.  She went through several months of chemotherapy.  However, Sherri continued to go to work and assist her students as if she was in perfect health.  Once her chemotherapy was complete, she started radiation treatments on a daily basis for 33 treatments.   Once again, Sherri would go into class every day and leave during the afternoon to go to her radiation treatment.  As time went on, the radiation was taking a toll on her physically.  She was suffering from radiation burns to the lower half of her body and was in significant pain, along with other health issues as a result of radiation.  But, that did not stop her.  She continued to go to work and help the high school students she was committed to helping. To try to make her feel better and give her some cheer in her life, the students had made a cardboard cut out of her and sat it in her chair in the classroom.  They even put Sherri’s sweater on the cut out as if she was actually sitting there in the room.  When she would arrive back to school the next day, she would find “herself” sitting in her chair as if she never left.  She received a lot of joy from this and it made her students feel as if they were doing something to help her as well.

Sherri has finished radiation.  She is now on a “wait and see” plan to determine if her treatments were successful.  She will have testing and labs on a continual basis.  She still has a port inserted into her chest which cannot be removed for the time being.  Naturally, she has a surmountable amount of medical bills.  She has no additional income other than her Teacher’s Aide salary, as well as she has NEVER asked her family for any financial assistance.  Once again, this selflessness she has for everyone else is unmeasurable.  I have prayed so much for a great outcome for her.  It makes me question how someone like Sherri with all the heartfelt love and help she has provided for so many people in her life, end up with a detrimental disease like cancer.  

My wish is for the power of prayer from so many people, whether you know her or not, because she is truly a special person and there needs to be more people like her on earth.  I created this Go Fund Me page to go beyond my prayer and try to help her pay her medical costs by asking for the assistance of good people.  Thank you and God Bless!