Sheila Adele Reed

There are many things Sheila could be proud of herself for.  Sheila was an only child and the world was her oyster.  However, at age 6, she contracted polio and was in an iron lung for nine months.  After years of physical therapy, first in her pool and then in ballet, and the mantra her doctor repeated "do something today, you didn't do yesterday", Sheila was finally able to make it up the stairs to her bedroom and put on her Capezio shoes.  Years later, after a vaccination gave her polio again, Sheila could be proud of overcoming her second battle although she would always have residual pain.  Sheila could be proud of traveling Europe with her parents, even attending a boarding school in Switzerland.  She could be proud of her parents.  Because of their wealth, it allowed them to be generous to their many employees, the ones who took care of their household and the ones who worked for their diner.  Sheila could be proud of her academic achievements.  After skipping two grades, Sheila graduated as co-Valedictorian of her high school in Miami.  She went on to study at the University of Florida where she was "tapped" to join a sorority, and after just three years, Sheila graduated Summa cum Laude.  Sheila then traveled back to Miami to work as Buyer for Burdines.  Burdines offered to pay for her MBA so Sheila took the opportunity and graduated as Summa cum Laude from the University of Miami.  After being told she would earn more money as a hair dresser, Sheila could be proud she was soon working at the Fountainbleau cutting the hair of celebrities like Carol Burnett and smoking pot with Richard Pryor.  After her father left and then passed away, Sheila could be proud of when she and her mother picked up the pieces and moved to New York.  There, Sheila fell in love and had a passionate affair with a married man named Jerry.  Always thinking with her head and not her heart, Sheila could be proud she was a young woman who walked away from that relationship at the one year deadline she gave herself.  While working at a salon, she met Allan Reed.  He came in trying to sell doggy wiggies but kept coming back for a trim.  Sheila knew he'd make a great father and wanting to make her mother proud by having a family, she married Allan.  Despite having three miscarriages and losing a twin child during childbirth, she could be proud of having Jill, Jolie, and Brad.  She could also be proud of selling their house, giving away the family pets, and moving her family back to South Florida in 1978 after Allan needed bypass surgery and was too weak to now shovel snow.  After losing her mom, Sheila could be proud of realizing how unhappy she was and divorced Allan.  Her two youngest children, Jolie and Brad would spend the weekdays at home and the weekends with Allan.  Sheila could also be proud of always putting her children first, even if it meant ending her relationship with a man named Tony so Allan could move back in when he hit a financial rough patch.  Another bypass surgery would soon follow and Sheila could be proud of how she handled it all with grace.  When it was all too much, Sheila could be proud of how she put her mental health first, packed and sold the house, and in 2005, moved to Tennessee where she created her own life.  Outside the beautiful Great Smoky Mountains, Sheila embraced and appreciated each day with her new job and coworkers who became friends until her eldest child, Jill, became terminally ill.  In 2010, Sheila could be proud of how she packed up her life in Tennessee and moved back to take care of Jill by driving her to chemo and radiation appointments and going grocery shopping.  Once it became apparent it was the end, Sheila could also be proud of how she had to talked Jill into going into hospice.  Jill thought she was going to hospice to get stronger.  Sheila told her how Jill was her hero and it made Jill feel special.  Sheila never met her grandchildren, but she could be proud Brad married and went on to have a family of his own.  Sheila could also be proud of always having a voice, being a strong and independent woman, and going up against anyone at any time and never backing down, especially, for her children as the "mama bear".  Sheila could be proud she always got what she wanted.  Whether it be a stranger on the street, contractors, or a hospital or school administration, Sheila had no fear.  Sheila was always the one people gravitated to- at school, at her sorority, at work, at home- people came to Sheila for advice at every stage of her life.   After several hospital stints, Sheila could be proud of always fighting back using that mantra "do something today you didn't do yesterday".  Sheila could also be proud of when she was given the option to keep fighting or to go to hospice in 2023, she chose to end her journey.  Sheila would say repeatedly it wasn't a charmed life, but she lived her "dash", that little line between the birth and death date, and as her daughter, I couldn't be more proud.