Cheryl, Sharon, Sherri....no.. it's Sher!

Little did we realize when Sher was born, what a blessing she would be in our lives! Now we had 9 children and each one is special in their own way. There's not one of them I could live without. Read How Could I Forget Joy? to get a little background.

Sher is a one in a billion person. She has qualities that any person would desire. She's loving, loyal, selfless, generous to a fault, longsuffering, humble, quick wit and much much more.

It's hard to remember when Sher ever asked for anything. She was a hard one to buy presents for as she never "wanted" anything for birthdays, or Christmas, etc. To prove that, last Christmas my daughter-in-law, Holly, brought Sher a present after Christmas. She said, "I just had to get this present for Sher as it's the only one I think I've ever heard her ask for"! And what was the present? A Nintendo game. The latest XYZ super-duper gotta have the best one? No, not Sher, she wanted one of the original ones to play Mario brothers!

A lot of us like to do things for others as long as it doesn't take a lot of time or effort. But Sher, is not like that. When Sher was in her mid-teens her mom got very ill and required a lot of hands on care. This became a full-time devotion. I say devotion because she never looked at it as a "job". If you've ever cared for a loved one you know what I'm talking about. After the company has gone home, and you've been praying for a person for a week or month or two, we just want to go on to something different. But not Sher, she wasn't in it to fulfill her good deed for the day (although she did). She just stepped up and did whatever it took to take loving care of her mom. Never complaining. Never bitter because she didn't "get" to go out like other girls her age. She wasn't looking for the "praise of man".

I talked to her about that a few times (the fact that she might have been "missing out" on her teenage life) but by the look on her face and what she said and what she did, you knew that that thought never crossed her mind. I think she looked at it as a privilege to be able to care for her mom. She did this day in and day out for years and watched as her mom's illness progressed knowing the only thing she could do was to pray and help her get through these times.

As time passed so did her grandfather, mother, and grandmother (all within 3 years), Sher was steadfast in her giving and selfless love through it all. Some years after that as things started settling down, and she could start focusing on her own life, I got seriously ill. I was forced to retire and being self-employed and not the best business man, was unable to take care of myself. There was Sher again to pitch in and do what she could to help. "Dad, we're just paying you back for our diapers", her and Joy would tell me. Boy, when I say "who am I, that God is mindful of me?", you may get a small glimpse of why I say that!

Anyhow, words cannot express how humbled I am to be a part of her life. I wish you could know her like I do. She is a most precious jewel, not only in my life, but in many others who don't even stop to realize what she has done for us. If they had a reality show called "Extreme Love Edition", Sher would be my nominee. I'd love to see the TV crew come and show how she sacrificied for others, and then fulfill all her wildest dreams, as thousands of onlookers cheered her on! The better thing though is that the Lord knows what she has done and must be happy to have a child like that.

Thank you Sher, for being "one in a billion"!

Happy Birthday and Love,
Dad