Michele was my foster daughter, but even though I did not give physical birth to her, she was the true daughter of my heart... and to lose her to death has been one of the hardest moments that i have ever experienced. She and I did so many things together. We taught each other so many things that caused us to grow close together... we shared so much that it will be hard to let her go and be with Jesus. For I know that she is walking and really yakking up a storm with Him now. She loved to talk, but in her talk, she was giving, loving and usually taught as she spoke....
 
 

I did not get to dress her in frills when she was a little girl.... I never got to curl and kink her hair in those days... I never got to play the little girl bit.. She didn't come to us until she was a teenager, but oh, our hearts reached out to each other almost immediately, and we touched hearts..

She was not always an angel, but I know she is now.  So, I want to tell you a bit about her so I can share what a large heart and love that she had... No matter what came, her goals in life was always to help others and she was always aware of their needs and pains, especially older folks. Michele, by her very nature, was a caring and giving person, expecting nothing in return for her labor, giving and her kindness to others.. Michele's brand of loving was a very special kind of tenderness and giving, not only of her time, but also of herself.  I saw many a time when she would see to it that the elderly folks in her neighborhood would receive their dinners, all prepared from her, and she would sit and talk to them as they ate, just to be sure that they were doing okay. She would find out there was a family without food, and she not only took from her own stores, but would actually go to the market and purchase sacks of things that they could use... with little special goodies inside to go to the person that was down the most... She loved family get togethers, and after she grew up, she insisted that they be held in her house, even though she lived in a small place that couldn't possibly hold everyone, they were all happy to over flow the place, just to be around her sunny brand of happiness.

Michele was a very talented person that worked with sewing, making herself and her kids a lot of their clothes; painting, which included doing up extra trims for her home; quilting, making each child their own memory quilt for their beds, and for anyone else that might need added warmth; ceramics, which is one of the things that we so enjoyed together, and basically any kind of craft and arts, she was always eager to learn each new step. After her death, there was so many many things that had to be cleaned out from her crafts, that it was almost impossible to get through all of it... She had a special love for music of most kinds, but gospel music was one of her favorites. Yes, Michele will be missed by many but with fond remembrances and many smiles, and I want to share with you the poem that was read at her service. It so fits with how she felt about joy and happiness.

She was such a lovely young lady, and to have to leave her children, must have been a hard decision for Jesus to let her come home to Heaven, but we all know that she is busy being our special angel.  For me, she is truly, my golden angel!  And I miss her so very much...

Now, a word about her death. She is listed as dying from pneumonia that had triggered an asthma attack that since her lungs were so weak, she just closed down and stopped breathing in her sleep.. but there were additional factors in her death that will never show up on any death certificate... she had become addicted to prescription pills. The doctors diagnosed her as being bi-polar and they kept on giving her oodles of medicine that just made things worse, even though the family tried to stop the doctors..... and the pain medications for her bad back was way to strong. So she was spending about 16-20 hours a day sleeping..... This was in the last year of her young life.... but she was finally realizing that doctors are not God and that she was doing better when she started cutting the medicines down on her own..... and she was working so hard at it...and we were so proud of her. but the medication had weakened her system something terrible and she got pneumonia.... So remember, no one knows the body like the person that is in it.... prescription drugs are as dangerous as any street drugs, if they are not monitored very carefully.....