Shine Now! Mag July 2016 Shine Now! Mag July Volume 1 Issue 2 | Page 23

A Ripping Away: Dealing with the Death of a Sister
By: Jacqui Showers
Patricia: “Jacqui, I
need you to pray for
Mike. He’s thinking
the worse.”
Me: “What’s the
worse?” I responded.
Patricia: “He thinks
that I’m dying.”
“What do you think?”
I asked.
Me: “I don’t think I’
m dying. That’s why
I need you to pray for
Mike.”
I stopped and prayed.
Almost 12 hours later,
my beloved sister and
best friend passed
away. She was gone.
We visited the
hospital Many times,
but Patricia fought
her way back.
Including the time in
2004, when she died
and God brought her
back to life.
But not this time. I
couldn’t find the
words to pray.
Although I cried out,
I was powerless. I
knew this day would
come, yet I wasn’t
prepared for it.

On May 14, 2013, a day before her
birthday and four days before
mine, Patricia was gone forever.
Her words echoed in my mind,
“When I die, it is because God
and I decided it was time.” God's
will and her will superseded my
prayers.
Patricia suffered from 78
diseases, five of those could kill
her in an instant. Since the day
she returned from Desert Storm
in 1991, she had been battling
these diseases. War’s aftermath
ravaged her body. Her body was
in slow deterioration racing
towards death. Yet, Patricia kept
fighting.
I was so proud of her when she
went to Desert Storm. At the time
she was a Captain in the Army
National Guard and led a
command of military police.

23