You arose as something special from a world most us never knew,

At a time and place when life wasn’t always easy, and opportunities far too few.

A time when so many were overlooked and nothing seemed to be right.

You refused to be lost in the blank faces that were only seen in black and white.

From out of the darkness you walked on your own. 

Emerging from the shadows bright and strong, insisting to be seen and heard.

 

 Still others saw you only in gray, not me, I saw you as beautiful, your colors vivid.

And though there were days your eyes were sad and tired, your smile was always bright.

As the sun filled your heart and the days got longer, your will grew ever stronger.

I shared your tears and your laughter and looked forward to each day’s beginning.

Sometimes struggling to make the words sound right, we talked of the good and the bad in our life.  

And I always knew just what you meant, because it came directly from your heart.

 

And then that day I saw you lying there broken in that bed.

Hanging on courageously so that others could see that your time had finally come.

A time to be free from all the pain, a time to be rewarded for all you had done.

We talked of God and of going home, and fought through the sadness and managed to smile.

We both knew He was coming to guide you to the place we knew of only as Love.

Home, where no one knows of black or white and where there are no shadows, only light.

No room for sadness, just tears of joy, and the promise to live for evermore.

 

Memories of you will still burn bright, as I watch the sun rise and feel the warmth in its light.

I will see your face in the beauty of an October day and cherish those words you had to say.

And smile a little each time, as you said them in your own special way.

You were wise and you had the resolve to rise above the world around you as yourself.

And you carried those with you that you loved and that you helped. 

And those whose hearts were filled by you will never ever forget,

The love you showed them every day and the smile that you kept.

 

And this world became a better place for those of us who knew you.

 

 

October 15, 2011 was a beautiful sunny fall day on the James River in Williamsburg, Virginia where Kim and I were spending the weekend.  On that beautiful Saturday morning, my friend and co-worker Tawanda Hackley lost her battle to beat the cancer that had grown in her breast and spread through her body.

I got used to Tawanda coming in to work each morning and making her first stop my office where we talked about our jobs, our kids and grandkids, our lives in general, and God.

One morning she shared with me the axillary pain she had been experiencing.

I visited her in the hospital the Thursday evening before I left for the weekend.  We talked openly about what was coming.  She was at peace.

In life, she was a survivor.  In death she was brave.

In so many happy memories, she lives on.