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Written by Norma Hays Lenz for her friend:
Sherry (Bullard) Durbin
My sweet and best friend, Sherita ( Sherry) Bullard Durbin, of 56 years passed away from kidney cancer on October 1, 2011. We both had quite a ride through life together. We met when we were 7 & 8, both only children. Sherry was adopted as an infant, but all through our growing up years she would always ask me if I thought she had brothers or sisters somewhere. Through our young lives it was always a nagging question in the back of her mind. About 10 years before her death when the internet became such a tool for finding folks, she discovered that she did, in fact, have 2 brothers here in Texas and a sister in Missouri. I was the first person she called and we both cried over her discovery. She was the youngest of the 4 kids. The other three knew of each other, but they did not know about Sherry.
Little proof was needed, as she looked and fit-in like the piece of a missing puzzle. I had always told her that I knew for sure that I didn’t have any brothers or sisters, so if she did, and found them, she’d better share. Oh my goodness, did she share! I got to be with them when they all came together. It was amazing! I told them that I should probably leave, since I wasn’t blood kin, but No No, they said absolutely not, we need you to make the pictures. It is such an amazing story of how they were found and how her persistence paid off.
Sadly, by the time everyone could come together, she was living her last days, but we celebrated her life and their first time together with great joy! Today, I am very close with all three siblings and their families! It gives me great comfort to be the surrogate sister and aunt. Thank you God for my precious sweet forever friend that I will see again one day. Before she went home to be with Jesus we talked extensively about her relationship with Jesus and continuing our visiting in heaven. God is Good!
Submitted by Norma (Hays) Lenz
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Patsy Brill (Curley) (1965)
I'm sorry to hear of Sherita's passing. She was part of my girlhood and she remains a girl in my memory.
Patsy
Melinda (Lynn) Riley (Sumrall) (1965)
I was able to reconnect with Sherita a couple of yrs ago. She had lost a kidney to cancer several yrs ago & was once again battling the disease. She remained upbeat & positive about her chances for survival. Our frequent telephone conversations were long & filled with trips down "Memory Lane". Sherita had remained close to another classmate of ours, Norma Hays Lenz. As Sherita's health began to fail, Norma spent hours by her side. Because we spend the hot Texas summers in Colorado & New Mexico, I was not with Sherita in those final weeks, but Norma called & emailed frequently with updates.
Sherita was adopted & never knew her birth parents, but a couple of months prior to her death & after years of searching, she met her sister & 2 brothers. These were siblings she never knew of. The reunion was such a bright spot in a very dark time. Sherita had one daughter, Chandra.
I miss my friend.