August 13, 1966 - January 8, 2024
In loving memory ~
Cheryl died suddenly on Jan 8th. Well, suddenly if you don't consider decades of drug abuse that just finally wore out a strong and loving heart. She was addicted, and homeless. She had been a major drug dealer at one time. She did time in jail and also various rehab centres. She was sexually abused as a young child, neglected and rejected. That beautiful little girl that was born in 1966 did not choose to be treated the way she was.
Pregnant at 16, she didn't complete high school. She was an extremely intelligent woman with a fiery spirit, great insight and a strong sense for justice. She could have been a great human rights lawyer. She should have been a university graduate. Even in her 50's she talked of wanting more education. She was very athletic and had a love for sports, but was denied that opportunity, too.
She was also compassionate, empathetic, caring, loving, generous, and insightful and a delightful person to be with. Sadly, she couldn't defend herself. She had been raped, and beaten, in a car accident that damaged her back which caused constant pain and endured other tragedies too numerous to mention.
She came to live with me 8 months before her death after being kicked out of the Hamilton for having a messy room. In response, she intentionally overdosed on fentanyl and I got a call from the hospital. I wasn't prepared for her to be homeless again. She was paranoid, schizophrenic, autistic, dyslexic, narcoleptic, and a variety of other mental descriptors. She was scared. But, over the 8 months with me she improved, her symptoms of mental illness decreased greatly, and she had a strong desire to be healthy. She did, however, spend most of her time in her room, smoking crack. Sometimes it was laced with fentanyl and I'd find her collapsed on her floor. She was also on a methadone program as well as other doctor-prescribed drugs which she took daily.
The pride of her life was her two children. I witnessed the reunion of her and her oldest son, now 40. She had improved enough and become stable enough while living with me to reach out to him as he lived in the area. They hugged each other, they told each other how much they cared and loved each other, and they cried. I cried too.
People like Cheryl never had a chance. She was toothless, with red-dyed hair. We should never look at what people like that 'appear' to be, but why they are like that. What was done to them, and what did we not do to protect them? All she ever needed was love, respect, and good guidance, something she just couldn't find.
Cheryl, she was a friend of mine when the skies looked the other way.