I have so many memories of my oldest sister Lanekia. She took me places, babysitted me and always kept my hair braided nice and neat with beads. When I grew up, she taught me how to braid my own hair and I’m so very grateful.
A painful memory and a loving church in action. A week after I graduated from high school, my oldest sister Lanekia Thomas passed away due to amniotic fluid embolism(AFE.)
In her third trimester, she noticed that her baby was not moving inside her stomach. My sister Lanekia called her doctor. The doctor asked her to come in to run several test. They could not find a heartbeat. The baby was not alive which is called intra-uterine fetal death. The doctor scheduled a normal vaginal delivery. She went to Crawford Long Hospital to deliver.
My mother was there for support. I’m not an expert, I thought the doctor would have given my sister a c-section. Unfortunately, the amniotic fluid got into her bloodstream during a normal vaginal delivery. Soon after, she went into cardiac arrest then died.
My mother was at the hospital with noone to console her after my sister died. She called me and many others. We were all devastated. Despite the negative news surrounding my sister before her death. My mother still encouraged herself in the Lord.
Lanekia was my mother’s first child. Her death was very hard on my mother and her six grandchildren. The youngest child was three at the time. I later adopted her 13 years after my mother asked me to take care of her.
This happened a week after I graduated from high school. I am the last of my mother’s six children. My mother, oldest sister Lanekia and a few others attended my high school graduation along with my mother’s coworker who was my photographer. It was a joyous occasion after my graduation. There were many conversations of everyone cheering me on, then tragedy strikes again in my family. I cried profusely.
My mother did not know how she was going to proceed with funeral arrangements for the two after unforeseen circumstances with her insurance. My sister’s bonus dad which was my biological father stepped in to help my mother with the funeral and burial.
After my oldest sister died, I would get up only to see my mother on her knees crying and praying to God in the wee hours of the morning, instead of praise and worship like she had done in the past. Watching my mother in complete agony was an extremely awful sight. My eyes were filled with tears too. The children were crying uncontrollably it was ridiculously sad. I felt so helpless.
Many months before, my sister’s husband was shot and killed on the front porch of their home and the kids were home too. Now, with both parents deceasedi, my mother tired to keep things together. Inheriting six grandchildren is no easy task. Everything was needed.
Eventually, they received much needed help. My mother was very grateful for all of the prayers and support that she received from family, friends and the community. My mother had the funeral at the Church of Life in Atlanta, Ga. Both my sister and the newborn baby girl were in the same casket and buried together.
I will never forget pastor Charles Stanley’s church here in Atlanta and the “sympathy team” that came out to show my mother and her grandchildren so much care and concern during his church member’s time of need.
Despite all the negative reports in the news about my sister they still proceeded in excellence. They even assisted my mother with local charities that helped our family during the upcoming holiday. I’m so very grateful for pastor Charles Stanley’s church leaders godly standards.
It’s a real blessing to know that genuinely good Christian’s and people of faith do exist in the world today. I give God all the glory, honor and praise for the outcome. I challenge you to speak about the goodness of the Lord.
Have a Miraculous and Bodacious Day!
