To say my sister lived life to the fullest is an understatement. Cheryl Baldwin had a personality and wit and gift for bringing joy to others like no one I have ever known. She was always the one who wanted a party, wanted to bring cheer and give gifts, wanted to be the helper and savior to all those she loved, and at the end, we just couldn’t save her no matter how hard we tried or how hard we loved her.
The support and love of my family got me through all this, especially my sister Judi. Cheryl had been hospitalized or in a group home under hospice care for over 5 months which can put a strain on any family, and with the care falling mainly on my sister Judi, it was no easy task.
Cheryl’s friends also came to not only her aid, but to mine as well. Even in her passing, the most beautiful words of comfort came from her dear friend Jim and his forwarding of messages from friends of theirs.
“The residual of Cheryl’s being will linger throughout our memories. Her spirit is now free, not bound by space or time any longer, and now resides in a place of peace that surpasses our understanding.”
As I was there with her on her last day March 17th, alone in her room. I played Fleetwood Mac and Eagles and our favorites from when we were young. She couldn’t speak that day but lay there with her eyes closed. I knew she could hear me and every once in awhile squeezed my hand. I played the music loud in order to drown out the annoying sound of the her oxygen machine. I sang to her, I cried to her and said everything in the world I could ever want to communicate to my dear sister. I told Jim what I was doing and he was so supportive, he sent me the words to an Eagles song. Cheryl and Jim attended an Eagles concert together back in 1976 which was one of my sister’s fondest memories.
“I wish you peace when times are hard.
A light to guide you through the dark.
And when storms are high and your dreams are low,
I wish you the strength to grown on,
I wish you the strength to let love flow…”
I am so thankful not only for all the love and support of all those that cared for her but for the gift of how she passed. I had left to go eat around 7PM on Tuesday, letting her ex Marc have some precious moments alone with her. After he left my sister Judi and I got a call from the home alerting us to fact that her breathing had changed dramatically. The two of us rushed over and we held her hands, spoke to her and told her how much we loved her. Then amazingly, after over 24 hours of not moving or even opening her eyes, her eyes opened wide and she turned to look at Judi and then turned to me and kept her glaze on me for quite a while and then once again turned to Judi and then peacefully closed her eyes, her breathing became soft and a look of peace came upon her for the first time and then she gently slipped away as a tear fell from her right eye.
Good bye my beautiful sister. You just lived life TOO big, TOO fast, TOO much, so therefore you used up all the energy allotted for one life and so you had to leave me TOO soon. I love you Cheryl.
