Someone I loved...died.

I googled her name today and only one search for her appeared.  Only a simple archived obituary with only 18 entries of comments from our family and friends was left of her for the world to see.  I searched through almost 6 pages of content searching feverishly for a glimpse of her past. Surely there was information on her dreams, a paragraph on her wishes, footnotes on beliefs or things she touched, aromas she smelled throughout her life, something, anything, but there was nothing.  Only a simple, short obituary.  Had her life been reduced to a simple name, age, city, 5 lines of family and where her final resting place would be? 

Then I began to recollect that she wanted to be a dancer in her youth, she was working on a book, she loved old western movies, she drove her car with 2 feet (one on the gas and the other on the brake), she loved to sing (even though she couldn't), she kept a journal, she loved coffee (two sugars and one cream), she kept a prayer in her wallet for God to protect her money, she had a green thumb and her plants flourished under her care, she collected antique blue and white china tea sets and she lived her life vicariously through every one of her seven children.  

A few years before she passed away, we discussed what she wanted for her life and she didn't selfishly ask for anything for herself, but she wanted me to live my life to its fullest, not build on empty promises and leave a legacy I could be proud of.  She wanted me to be ready for the day I take my last breath and then take the next breath in eternity.  Suddenly as I combed through the Internet looking for pieces of my mother, she was in the fiber of my memories.  My mother planted seeds of morals and self-worth, things that I could take with me as I aged and raised my own family.   I never thanked her for that.  I never told her that she was my hero and my definition of Mothers Day, fighting off the boogieman in my closet in my youth and my feelings of inadequacy as an adult.  I can only hope she knows how proud I was of her as she fought cancer all while fighting back the tears so we wouldn't see her cry.  Someone I loved, died.  And although there is no google search that defines who she was to me and my family, we miss her. Terribly.

PHYLLIS RIDDICK
AGE: 61 LAKEWOOD
Phyllis Riddick, 61, of Lakewood, passed Saturday, Sept. 13. She was born to the late Kathleen and George Hall.
Phyllis is survived by her husband, the Rev. Gerald R. Riddick; seven children, Todd, Gerald and his wife Gaynelle, Veronica and her husband Mustafa, Lisa and her husband Eric, Denice and her husband Ron Sr., Catherine and Keith; 15 grandchildren, Marquette, Sequoia, Christina, Charmell, Crystin, Courtney, Atiya, Sydney, Aliya, Michael Jr., Ronald Jr., Akiya, Eric II, Keith Jr., and Kelsey; a great-grandchild, Kyionna; her mother-in-law, Ardieth; a sister-in-law, Hope and her husband Bobby; and friends.
The viewing will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday at Bagwell Funeral Home, 131 S. Broad St., Penns Grove. Another viewing will be from 9 a.m. Friday until the funeral service at 10 a.m. at Sixth Street Baptist Church, Lakewood. Interment will be in Evergreen Cemetery, Salem.