Remembering those we have lost in 2009
The threshold of a New Year is a poignant time for us all – and for some more than others.
Remembering and reflecting on fleeting moments spent with women who have inspired me, served only to remind how much their lives are a lesson to us all.
Sharon Dyer was indeed a very special woman whose passing at 40, four months ago, was all too soon.
Evelyn Rump is an inspiration that a mother's love is endless. It's what keeps her devotedly caring for her son, Stuart, 31, who for eight years has lain barely able to move, eyes closed, unable to talk or communicate after a horrific accident.
And then there's Julia Churchill, another mother whose endless love for her hero son is stored up in the memories she treasures and the memorial she and Brothers In Arms want to see built next year in Mowbray Park for those killed in Afghanistan like her soldier lad.
At 20, her son, Royal Marine Tony Evans, died while selflessly providing fire cover to comrades in a battle with Taliban rebels a year ago.
Each of these women in their unique circumstances have shown how love, fortitude and the ability to handle life, makes for triumphant living.
Sharon touched the hearts of thousands of Echo readers with her battle against cancer and scores of people donated money to the Buy Sharon Time campaign to pay for the life-prolonging drug she was denied on the NHS.
Mother to Bradley, 13, Connor, 11, and daughter Gemma, 23, Sharon was the adored wife of Kevin.
She was fighting cancer in her brain, leg, liver and spine after being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2004. She never gave up hope.
A lovely lady, I told her she was the bravest I had ever known and, in typical Sharon style, she was truly taken aback. I couldn't mean her.
That was indeed the wonder of Sharon, who had that rare quality of never complaining and almost sacrificially thinking of everyone else before herself.
How acutely Kevin feels her loss. He spoke for all the family when he told me the other day: "She was unbelievable. She wowed so many hearts and there's not going to be anyone like her.
"I don't know what the future is going to hold – I just keep on for the family. It's like an empty hole."
While many people long to know what's in store – maybe you are one – I believe it is God's grace to us that we don't know. If we did it would blow our minds.
Kevin certainly thinks so.
Evelyn, 51, knows if we could see the future "it would drive you insane".
She keeps a daily vigil by Stuart's bedside in their Kayll Road home and has a quiet strength. Her life changed forever when her eldest son was left with severe head and brain stem injuries after he was crushed by a lorry at the former Homeworthy Furniture factory at Southwick.
And Julia, who has Terry, 21 and Demi 13, feels the loss of her "Smiley Boy" so grievously.
She believes it is for the best that we don't know what the future holds.Whatever this year has held, or the next one holds, these three women remain etched in my heart and thoughts for all time – truly inspirational.
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Friday 10 February 2012
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