23 August 2004
I worked with a woman named Cheri for about 3 years. Her daughter also worked with us and I had just recently became friends with her after I graduated highschool. Cheri was like a mother to me, because my own mother was not always the best. At work she made the day fun and other people we worked with referred to us as trouble.
We worked in a store and Cheri's primary job was to fill and make sure checkouts was up to standards. I am a supervisor so we worked very close to one another. We would laugh and joke about stupid things going on in our lives, complain about men, yell at one another, anything to just laugh.
She had many problems in her life she was going through a divorce, she had problems with her kids, typical everyday problems in a single womans life. After all the problems she may have had she always found the time to listen to others problems and offer solutions to their problems. I remember many friends of mine called her mom. I loved Cheri she was my best friend.
On June 28, 2004 I remember being at work, Cheri had not shown up at work that day and I was mad because she left me alone. At about 9am that morning her daughter showed up at work and I noticed she was upset while talking to our manager. I had a horrible feeling in my stomach, I knew something was wrong. Her daughter said Cheri had a horrible headache all day Sunday and some time Sunday night she threw up and collapsed immediately. She was rushed to the hospital where it was confirmed that she had in fact had a brain aneurysm.
The doctors performed surgery to correct one of the brain aneurysms but she had two others that could not be fixed. She laid in the hospital for a week unconscious and on life support. The entire week was the worst part of my life. I wanted to see her to be there for her. Friday evening we called her daughter to get an update on her status. The decision was about to be made to take Cheri off life support.
Early on Saturday July 3 2004 Cheri had in fact passed away. I was at work when I heard the news and an overwhelming pain took over my body. I cried all day, I couldn't understand why she had to leave us. Her death was so sudden and unexpected, I had just seen her that Friday and we were arguing (jokingly) that she did not go to our cookout at work that day with me. She was a vegetarian, little did I know. I miss her so much and I still do not completely understand why this had to happen. She helped me through everything, she gave me the support I needed when my mother was not there. For a woman in her 40's with nothing going right in her life she always had a smile on her face and always new how to have fun.
Cheri left behind four of her own children, and who knows how many others called her "mom". I know me and my friends are still not over it, her sudden death affected everyone she worked with. Cheri will be missed by everyone she knew.
I know this story is not exactly what is meant to be placed here, but I'm looking for some closure to her death and hopefully sharing it with others will help me get through this. It has only been a little over a month since she's been gone but it seems longer to me. Thank you for reading mine and Cheri's story, she really was a remarkable person.
© Copyright 2004 Lauren Biernack
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