Hello. My name is Matthew McKibben, and I am Sherry’s nephew. I am here, like all of you, to celebrate Sherry Fulmer Strait’s life.

We all knew Sherry through different relational ties. To my grandparents, she was a daughter. To my mom and my uncles and aunts, she was a big sister. To some here, she was a business associate, or a friend, a fellow Republican, or a friendly neighbor.

But to me, my cousins, and my siblings, she was Aunt Sherry. But as with all words, names, and titles we attribute to family members, the words seem small and inadequate for those they’re attached to. It’s as if the word “aunt” could ever begin to accurately describe all the wonderful things that my aunt was.

I mean, my cousin’s and sister’s children hit the nail more on the head. To my nephews and nieces, Sherry was a “great aunt.” Great Aunt Sherry. To me, that seems infinitely more accurate of a title. My nephews and nieces had by title, what everyone already knew. She was, and will continue to be, a GREAT aunt.

But luckily, I knew Aunt Sherry through a different title. She was not only my aunt, but she was my godmother. And not only was she my godmother, she was, as “great” aunt Sherry and I liked to say, my fairy godmother. Since “aunt” seems like such a small word when talking about the importance Sherry had to my life, I can think of no more appropriate title for “great” aunt Sherry than “godmother.”

Taken individually, the word godmother becomes “God” and “Mother.”

First take the word God: God, more than anything, is Love. God is an unconditional love so deep that even the world’s greatest poets and writers have yet to accurately detail this love in print, despite thousands of years worth of attempts, and millions of words of practice.

Secondly, take the word “Mother.” A mother isn’t necessarily the person who carries you in their womb, but is more the person who carries you in their heart. Putting both words together: “god” “mother” becomes “godmother,” which translates to “the mother who carries you in their heart through love.” Taken all that has been said in the above paragraphs, she was a great aunt who gave me the nurturing equal to any mother through the goodness of her immense love.

One of the things that I’ve noticed throughout my life is the presence of ghosts. Ghosts exist. They exist everywhere. But I’m not talking about the types of ghosts that haunt houses, or walk through the pages of an Edgar Allen Poe short story, but the ghosts that appear through the energies of our memories.

In my grandmother’s house, there is a spot, a corner actually, next to the kitchen and the dining room table where my Great Grandmother, nicknamed Ganny used to sit and watch over her family. And every time I visit my grandmother’s house, that spot calls to mind the wonderful spirit that my Grandmother carried.

In that same house, there is a chair in the far corner of the living room where my grandfather used to sit and watch over his family like a proud lion watching over its pride. Every time I took a step into my grandparent’s house, he’d rise from that chair and greet me as if I were the most important person in the room. And I’m sure that’s how he viewed each person that came through his door. Now, every time I see that chair, and that spot of the living room, I instantly recall memories of that great man.

These types of ghosts exist in happy memories, but they also exist in the void left opened by their earthly departure. With Great Aunt Sherry, I can already tell you where that ghost will exist. The great memory of my great aunt, will reside in the numerous “family gatherings” that my family has throughout the year.

It is my sincere hope that each person here at one time or another, has experienced the type of familiar bonds and love that my family experiences on a daily basis, but is especially able to feel the immense love and happiness experienced when my family has one of our monthly “family gatherings.” My family gathers at least once a month, usually to honor someone’s birthday or major accomplishment. At these gatherings, we eat, laugh, eat some more, laugh a little bit more, tell family stories, eat some more, occasionally talk politics, eat some more, and when it’s all said and done, we head for the desert.

But life being the way it is, sometimes different family members would have a major event that would pull them away from the monthly gathering. Or sometimes, someone would be out of town. Sometimes, school would get in the way of someone’s attendance to the family gathering.
But the one constant for every single family gathering was my great Aunt Sherry. I mean, she was at every single one. It got to the point, that whomever would be in charge of planning the family gathering would not even check with Aunt Sherry to see if she could be there, it was just understood that she would.

If there was a family gathering somewhere, well, Aunt Sherry was darn sure going to be there. And not only was she going to be there, she was going to be there with FOOD. As you may or may not know, my family likes to eat. And in my family of great cooks, there was none greater than my Great Aunt Sherry. Man, just thinking about those delicious casseroles, and those delicious pies…why, they’re making my mouth water just thinking about them. She was such a great cook she could even make a salad taste GREAT.

When it was announced that a family gathering was taking place, it was assumed by my family that while we scoured the newspapers at night in search of all the hot topics of national and world news, and while some of us slaved over homework and school assignments, my Great Aunt Sherry waded through page after page of her prized possessions, her cook books. You see, for not only did my Great Aunt Sherry want to find a recipe for her family, she wanted to find a recipe that would equal in greatness the amount of love she had in her heart for her beloved family. The thing about it is that we never requested that she do so. She considered cooking and providing delicious food to her family not as a chore, like I would, but considered it to be her gift to the family she loved dearly. It has been said that the way to a person’s heart is through their stomach. Great Aunt Sherry knew this statement to be a philosophical Truth.

As I’ve come to realize, death is a lot harder on those of us who are left behind to sort out the pieces. For those who pass on, why they have the easy part. I mean, can’t you just sit here and imagine what Aunt Sherry is doing right now? Can you imagine what this person, who loved family more than self, is doing with the countless generations of family that have come before? While we sit here, and feel sad that our beloved Aunt is no longer with us, she is reunited with her father. As we sit here and embrace one another, she now sits and feels the warm embrace of her grandparents, and her great-grandparents, and her great-great grandparents. How can we not feel happy for Sherry, who is probably right now as we speak, cooking up some heavenly pie for those in her family with her, and consequently, with us all.

But let us not forget, that while we still struggle to come to grips with an illness that attacked silently, she is illness free. I feel nothing but happy just saying those words. She is illness free. Let it never be said, or even thought, that cancer took my Great Aunt Sherry. I mean, what is cancer really? Cancer is nothing more than an overgrowth of cells. That’s it. That’s all. Let it never be said that an overgrowth of cells took my Great Aunt. It may have made her sick. It may have taken her hair. It may have taken her physical energy. But it did not, it could not, no matter how deep and dark it got…it could not take her spirit or her soul. That was hers and hers alone. And no overgrowth of cells was going to take that from her. If these last few weeks have proven anything, they’ve proven that my Great Aunt Sherry was a fighter. She was tough. As her favorite president would say, her resolve was strong. Her resolve was so strong in fact, that the last time I saw her, only about a week and a half before she passed from this realm to the next, it was at times really hard to even tell that she was sick. I swear, her smile could lighten even the darkest of rooms.

So as I leave this chapel today, I carry with me the warm memories of my Great Aunt Sherry. Although she won’t physically be with me anymore, I’m positive that she will always be there. Just like Ganny sits at the bar stool next to the kitchen, and just like my grandfather sits in his comfy living room recliner, so too does my Aunt Sherry stay with us every moment of everyday. I love you Great Great GREAT Aunt Sherry. We’ll see you at the next family gathering.