CUDDLY & POPPY TO THE RESCUE

       Remembering Cheryl              

24th Dec 1958 to 6th Sep 2021

If climbing roofs were a thing..........then we would have become very popular 13 year old's. In Acca we had a confidante and a friend. She was the wise one, the one who would warn us about the trouble brewing on the other side of the planned escapades! We chose a day when Aunty Norma wasn't home and don't ask me why? But we climbed the roof, which was over the garage! Was it to get to the overhanging Villard mangoes...hmmm, I wish Cheryl were here to remind us.

Then one day we discovered boys! They were looking our way and didn't look like locals to us. So we thought we should take a closer look. Off we rode away on our bicycles to impress. She would patiently wait for us to to get home and tell us what we should have been doing instead: cleaning out our rooms or maybe to atleast try to even read a book or two. All this happened on a normal Sat afternoon when I would sneak out across the road to Cheryl and Nirmalene's (Nimmi's) home. Holidays were a blast when Cheryl would bake the most delicious gooey chocolate cakes and desserts and we would just go for it!

Uncle Eric and Aunty Norma were the best parent's girls like them could have had! Ha ha ! I say this because of the hours I spent with them in their room! 

We had plenty to do and lots to talk about. There wasn't a TV in the room to watch but oh what an imagination we had. There were clothes to try on and parade in and beauty products to keep us 3 teenagers well occupied! I guess Aunty would have wondered what we were up to but she would just pop into the room to announce that there's chocolate/love/fruit cake or something else to munch. I think Cheryl took after Aunty in that she was quieter and also 'ços she had the patience to do all the fancy baking with her. Uncle with his subtle sense of humor would always poke fun at us and Cheryl would say 'Daddy!' in a exasperated tone and laugh. To me they were the most kindest and generous people I personally knew. Cheryl emulated all their great qualities and ensured we were also taught them.

Cheryl had made friends with a Polish neighbor who was about her age. She  went for long walks or bike rides with her. Nimmi and I were the tag-alongs! Mischievous as we were, we would be listening in on their conversations and then when we got back home, we would bully her about some boy that the friends had been talking about..

Looking back,  we know we had an amazing time together and such innocent fun too. Am surprised that big sis actually tolerated us!

Sometime she would walk over to my house as we became fast friends too and I spent equal amounts of time with both sister's. This was our story, simple yet profound if you gave ear to what we talked about! As we matured over the years chattering and chattering and dreaming and making plans, it was her dream to become an accountant and work for a big corporate. She worked hard at her AAT and ICMA as it was then called.

Then one day tragedy struck and Cheryl's health just deteriorated overnight. She suffered a stroke at  23yrs and life was never the same again for her. She was in the NICU for awhile and then recuperated over many months there and then at home. I grew to love and care for her together with her parent's and Nimmi. Our friendship changed but got consolidated over the next few years as she navigated life on her own terms even though she had limited movement on her left side by following CIMA classes on her own, walking over  to my house alone and independently doing so many different things.

In 1987 and 1988 she attended both my brother's and my weddings and saw the birth of my first born and then sometime later she ventured over to live in the UK , her birth country. For the next 5years she lived there quite comfortably. A few friends and relatives would look in on her so that she would be able to manage more or less on her own.

I think she was a daring and brave person to attempt this even when she didnt have the use of her left hand. She managed her meals and her transport to volunteer at centres she preferred to work at. In 2009 unfortunately she had a 2nd stroke which caused a set-back and she had to come to Sri Lanka with Nimmi.

She was disappointed that she had to return to Sri Lanka. It did mean that there would be a loss of her independence and to be chaperoned by a care-giver because of her additional needs. 

In spite of that, she ran the house for her mum and got involved in a few things back at SBC. She also joined the Merry Ann singer's a choral group who sang for the love of it! 

After the Merry Ann Singer's concert Laksman Kadirgamar Institute Auditorium

A few years back, we even made it to a show at the Laksman Kadirgamar Institute's Auditorium and she managed to worship regularly at the four square gospel Church services held at the Soviet Cultural house. 

She moved house from her parent's old place to her own apartment for more secure reasons and enjoyed her life there these past few years. Sr. Disna, was a God-send. As a house-mate she would take time to pray with her, play with her and set her little tasks that she could do to make better use of her time.

We visited each other and played scrabble often, wrote notes and ate the goodies she would buy for her visitor's. I would swap stories and chat about her worldly issues and I mine. She would often talk about the visits and phone calls that some of her classmates made, and keep me updated.  We swapped news of our families and pictures etc. She so looked forward to these visits till the lockdowns started! Many friends sent her food/gifts which she was grateful to receive. It also livened up her day!  God Bless you all! You know who you are. 

Celebrating her 62nd Birthday 

  

Celebrating her 60th Birthday

2020 was a strange year, she was impatient with the lockdown! (who isnt)!

For sometime it was just phone calls but as she was determined to get her group of friends together, she made all the plans and contacted everyone and all of them somehow made it on the 23rd of Dec 2020 to celebrate, her 62nd Birthday, one day early. Love  and gratitude to the gang who made it. She was your forever friend and she would have held you close to her heart as you made time

for her.

Little did we know that we would be celebrating with her for the last time! She was filled with so much of  joy that day. She would talk about it for days. 

Her love for her sister and brother -in-law Amitha and her nephews was immense. She admired and loved them and would worry about Amantha endlessly. She was proud of them and she would excitedly talk about things she would remember about the boy's growing up years from the time they were babies. 

As a family, they cared for her in a way that left no stone unturned to make her life safe, comfortable and interesting.              

Nimmi and Amitha's Older son Amantha

Niraj, their younger son, Amantha & Amitha

She was ready to bake for Amantha, long before he even arrived back home.  

Her life came to an abrupt end all too soon ! She couldn't fulfil all of her  dreams.  

And she left us in a untimely manner, with her sad demise on 6th Sep 2021. A vibrant colored rose she was, even in difficult circumstances. She wasn't bitter. Life to her was to be lived up so she  lived life to the fullest. She was generous with her gratitude towards her friends and family.

Though this flower is now faded, her memories will live on for ever!

See you in heaven my sweet friend and Sister Cheryl! 

May you rest in peace and rise in glory on the day of the rapture!