The Other Side of Heaven (12 page)

Name:
Cherye Elliott

Name of loved one
: John Elliott

Age
: 84

Relationship:
Father

How they died:  
Accident

A little about the one who passed:
My Dad. My role model. My
business partner.

How would one moment change your life?
If I listened to you more
then I would know what to do in ‘man situations’. I would not only have balls,
but maybe grow a penis in dealing with people in the man dominated industry I
am working in. I would know how to deal with men who do not like women doing a
better job than them.

What would you want to say:
Why didn’t you force me to listen to
you?

Name:
Monica Orluk

Name of loved one
: Frank Arcuri

Age
: 70

Relationship:
Father

How they died:  
Sickness

A little about the one who passed:
Best father, Marine and role
model ever. And he and my mom had the perfect love!

How would one moment change your life?
I didn’t thank my father
for his guidance and support. To be able to do this and to share all that’s
transpired in my life since he passed would provide piece of mind and validate
my life’s choices. To be able to say thank you, I love you and feel his arms
around me one more time would have a profound impact on my life, and my
relationships.

What would you want to say:
Thank You!

Name:
JoJo G.

Name of loved one
: Oscar M.

Age
: 60

Relationship:
Father

How they died:  
Sickness

A little about the one who passed:
A hard working man who
enjoyed a good dirty joke. Loved to fish.

How would one moment change your life?
We weren’t told when he
went to the hospital. We didn’t find out until he was in a medically induced
coma. Never got to say goodbye. I would love to go fishing with my dad one last
time. It was his favorite thing to do. I just want to see him smile again.

What would you want to say:
I miss you so much

Name:
Michael D.

Name of loved one
: Ron D.

Age
: 47

Relationship:
Father

How they died:  
Sickness

A little about the one who passed:
He was awesome. He showed me
how a father should be and how a husband should treat his wife.

How would one moment change your life?
It would help me bring
closure to his death. I never cried at his funeral. I never felt I got to say
goodbye to him

What would you want to say:
I am sorry I let you down.

Name:
Amanda

Name of loved one
: Alden

Age
: 85

Relationship:
Father

How they died:  
Natural Causes

A little about the one who passed:
Drunk

How would one moment change your life?
I would just like to have
a moment with him sober. Like my siblings had. I am the youngest and didn’t get
that like the others. My sister says I missed out on someone special

What would you want to say:
Love you anyway

Name:
Sherry

Name of loved one
: Tommy

Age
: 39

Relationship:
Fiancé

How they died:  
Natural Causes

A little about the one who passed:
He was convicted of murder
and sent to death row...he spent almost 20 years there and was executed...this
murder was so unlike him...everyone who knew him would agree he was not a
violent person

How would one moment change your life?
It would ease the guilt I
felt all of these years.I left him in prison and moved on and it would answer
questions about the murder that I’ve always had

What would you want to say:
Even though I moved on with my life,
I never stopped loving you and every man I met, I compared to you and none of
them measured up...also I would like to know what happened that night of the
murder.

Name:
Annika W.

Name of loved one
:
Sam S.

Age
: 21

Relationship:
Friend

How they died:  
Self Inflicted

A little about the one who passed:
He was my very first friend
in high school, we basically went through adolescence together and learned who
we were together

How would one moment change your life?
Sam died of a heroin
overdose. I wish I would have been able to tell him to stay away from it. He
had been in rehab for 8 months and came home for 2 days before he was going to
move to Chicago, for law school. He decided to do it one last time, and he did
not survive. I wish I could have kept him away from those bad influences for
the 2 days he was here.

What would you want to say:
It’s not worth it

Name:
Shelley

Name of loved one
: Stuart

Age
: 17

Relationship:
Friend

How they died:  
Accident

A little about the one who passed:
He was a sweet, bright boy
with such a wide open future ahead of him.

How would one moment change your life?
I could perhaps find out
if he felt the same way I did, that we were headed into a future together. It
would allow me to answer all those what if questions that broke my heart.

What would you want to say:
I miss you terribly. I miss the
possibilities we had for a future together.

Name:
Beth

Name of loved one
: Toni Jo

Age
: 44

Relationship:
Friend

How they died:  
Murdered

A little about the one who passed:
She was killed by her
husband, who then killed himself. It was a mutual decision supposedly because
he was facing prison for acting out anger issues and being charged with
assault. I believe she was brainwashed by this very angry and controlling man.
Summarize the situation!

How would one moment change your life?
Maybe I would still have
my best friend. Or I could know for sure what was going on.

What would you want to say:
I wish I had tried harder to
convince you to leave him when I knew he had become abusive. I wish I had not
let you distance yourself from me after that event.

Name:
Kayleigh

Name of loved one
: Hugh

Age
: 75

Relationship:
Grandfather

How they died:  
Sickness

A little about the one who passed:
A stoic Irishman, with a
calming nature and a knack for telling stories

How would one moment change your life?
I never got to say
goodbye to my grandfather in person, and it’s something I have struggled with.
I wish I could have had the chance to thank him for being my safe place, my
partner in crime and the best role model I could have wished for. I miss him
every day.

What would you want to say:
He was dead set against me ever
changing my surname if I ever married. I’d promise I never would.

Name:
Paul S.

Name of loved one
: Mr. James O.

Age
: 65

Relationship:
Grandfather

How they died:  
Sickness

A little about the one who passed:
He was a jack of many trades
and one of the smartest men I ever knew

How would one moment change your life?
My grandfather was a
steam fitter, but he was also an inventor, a painter, a boat builder, a World
War II vet and a star gazer. I would love to take him flying and let him fly
the aircraft, then ask him if he knew what a fight I had to get this far. If
anyone in my family would understand. My own family doesn’t get it. But my
grandpa would.

What would you want to say:
Let’s go flying

Name:
Julie Colegate

Name of loved one
: Dorothy Wilcox

Age
: 67

Relationship:
Grandmother

How they died:  
Sickness

A little about the one who passed:
The Solid foundation of our
family. The Matriarch

How would one moment change your life?
Nanna died after an
illness that took her in bits from us. At the very end even when she couldn’t
speak the determination inside her to give all of us some comfort stayed right
until the end, even when all she could do is turn her head and squeeze my hand
in support. Nanna was always the bedrock of our very large family and she
fought to keep us all together through all the ups and downs that large
families have. I know that her biggest worry was that if she was no longer
there to keep us together we would eventually pick at the scabs of old wounds
and fracture. I want her to know that we are all okay. We still have our
arguments and our family is much more scattered these days but what she
instilled in all of us is most definitely still there. In times of trouble we
have each other no matter what has been said or done and that will never
change. My resolution would be having the assurance that wherever nanna may be
now, she will know that we love her and miss her but that she is able to rest
in peace because we all have each other.

What would you want to say:
Our lives have been better because
you were always there for us.

Name:
Adrienne Scott

Name of loved one
:
Doris aka
Memaw

Age
: 76

Relationship:
Grandmother

How they died:  
Sickness

A little about the one who passed:
She was a beautiful soul who
helped raise me while my mother worked. Growing up with her she passed on to me
so much of her homesteading knowledge and loved me deeply. She had wonderful
serenity and peace about her because of her faith in God. She lived her entire
life in that quiet but strong manner and treasured me with her grace and love.
Alzheimer’s took her away from me and from this world.

How would one moment change your life?
Just to know that her
faith had held after her dementia took her mind would be very comforting to me.
To know she had found peace for eternity and seeing her at peace within would
be a blessing to me.

What would you want to say:
She died in her sleep and I did not
get the chance to tell her how much I loved her and how thankful I was to have
her in my life. I would tell her this and without any further words just be
there with her cherishing our time together.

Name:
Vickyjo

Name of loved one
: Eva

Age
: 76

Relationship:
Grandmother

How they died:  
Sickness

A little about the one who passed:
Old fashioned hair brushing,
making breakfast, sing bedtime grandmother.

How would one moment change your life?
If she could have helped
me at 16 my whole life would have been different. Now if I could talk to her
maybe she could help me understand and put all of the pain behind me.

What would you want to say:
I would ask her help, something I
didn’t do when she was alive.