I write today in celebration of the life of Sylvia Whaley. While being away from home and living
in Spain, I have recently gotten the news that my grandmother has passed away.
Sylvia had three sons; Roger, Doug, and Donald, and lost her
only daughter at birth. I was her
only granddaughter which made us very close- as if I was the daughter she never
had. I loved being with grandma so
much that when I was a child I would pretend to be sick so I could stay home
from school just to spend more time with her. Why was it so easy to love
Sylvia?
She was a giver of Life! She had a
joyous personality that would encourage anyone, even strangers. She would strike up a conversation with
anyone who had the time to listen; she was the type of woman who you could
become best friends with simply spending 3 minutes with her in the grocery
check out line.
At the age of 20 Sylvia was diagnosed with
Neurofibromatosis. This is a distinct genetic disorder that cause tumors to
grow along various types of nerves and, in addition, can affect the development
of non-nervous tissues such as bones and skin. Neurofibromatosis caused tumors
to grow all over Sylvia’s body which made her “beauty� slip away at a young
age. When hanging out with her, we would often get funny looks from other
people, some would stop and stare, and at times babies would even cry when she
approached them due to how extremely rare the disease was. This disease has
only shown itself for 1 out of every 3,000 births.
If I characterized Sylvia’s life by they ways the world
tends to judge, some may say that
she had nothing…… no fancy job, no beauty, no mansion to live in, no heaping
funds stock piled with millions of dollars. But upon the death of Sylvia God reminds us of how riches
are quantified in the Kingdom of God.
What we have doesn’t matter; rather…..God cares about
WHO WE ARE!
Sylvia had EVERYTHING!! She received life
from the Lord and loved to give it away in abundance to others. She is one of
the most beautiful people I have ever met, and it is because of her character. No matter the challenge or trial, she
would always be the rock of the family.
She was a fighter who won over adversity.
She was a lover EVEN when others did not give her love in return.
She was one of the greatest examples of unconditional Love I
have ever seen. She gave her life to make others happy. She gave others who
struggle with appearance & disease HOPE. She was an incredible friend, amazing mother, and inspirational grandmother.
She would want you all to know that when your time on earth
passes, no one will remember what your job title was, how much money was left
in your bank account, or what your house looked like. But you will be remember for the LIFE you gave away, how you
allowed God to Love you, and How well you loved others. Sylvia, you are my HERO!
Dear
friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 1 John 4:11
