On Christmas, 1995, my sister came to me, with a card that read

Needless to say, this made us cry together, all day, and many days following. For we knew, going through the pregnancy together, ultra sounds, doctors appts., from the beginning, we knew she would be a sick little girl. I was present in the delivery room as coach, as I had been with all of her children. Little Sheryl enetered the world with many arms reaching out for her. She made it through the delivery, and we cried. Through the first year we went through many successful operations. Sheryl Nicole was a fighter, and determined to be here, with those who love her deeply. She was meant to be. She always brought a smile, and great joy to all that haad encountered her. My little angel had made it through the toughest of all operations. It was during minor surgery that our world would forever be destroyed.

The doctors, while adjusting a pressure band around an arterie, had accidently put a hole in her heart. It wasn't realized until it was too late. Her lungs had filled with blood, and she slipped into a coma. I got to the hospital just in time for my sister, absolutely devestated, to fall into my arms, sobbing uncontrollably, she had to make the heart wrenching decision to pull the plug. It was not a decision of living, or dying at this point, it was a matter of when to let her go. I was mortified. My angel baby, my little sister, I couldn't make it better for her, as I always had when she was litle. On Halloween, 1997, little Sheryl Nicole took her last breath, in the arms of her mother, and her Aunt, forever scarred by the last memory we have of her. It was the hardest thing I will have ever done on this Earth. I wanted to run, to deny, but I couldn't. I was here when she came into this world, and there when she left. I am greatful, yet scarred for life, of the picture that was once so perfect, now lost forever, little Sheryl Nicole.

I will forever be in grief, as will my family. Never knowing complete happiness, for this loss has been tragic, and there will always be an emptiness for me, and my family. I had purchaseda clock the week before she passed away, I put it on the wall in my bedroom. On the evening that little Sheryl passed away, emotionally exhausted, I arrived home. I went to my room, looking at the clock, as if it mattered what time it was, the clock read 3:10 pm. I blinked, my mind was playing tricks on me. It was surley the longest day of my life...but it couldn't be 3:10. I went to the kitchen, the clock read 1:00 am. .....Well the clock in my room still hangs on my wall, forever at 3:10..the exact moment my world was forever destoryed.

I bought a Guardian Angel for my niece on the day she was to be born. My sister generously let me have it when Sheryl passed away. It sits on my dresser next to her picture. A forever reminder of the love I felt for a very special litttle Angel, and a grim reminder of the loss.

The music you hear is from a song that was written for Celine Dion, when her neice passed away. It is titled "Fly".

FLY

Fly, fly little wing
Fly beyond imagining
The softest cloud, the whitest dove
Upon the wind of Heaven's love
Past the planets and the stars
Leave this lonely world of ours
Escape the sorrow and the pain
And fly again

Fly, fly precoius one
Your endless journey has begun
Take your gentle happiness
Far too beautiful for this
Cross over to the other shore
There is peace forever more
But hold this memory bitter sweet
Until we meet

Fly, fly, do not fear
Don't waste a breath, don't shed a tear
Your heart is pure, your soul is free
Be on your way, don't wait for me
Above the universe you'll climb
On beyond the hands of time
The moon will rise, the sun will set
But I won't forget

Fly, fly little wing
Fly where only angels sing
Fly away, the time is right
Go now, find the light