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My Sweet "Erica"
Sep 09, 2002
My Sweet "Erica"
Full of surprises from the very start,
so tiny and innocent instantly having my heart.
One month early your were born giving us all a scare,
fooling everyone having fingernails and strawberry blonde hair.
One month into your life we almost lost you,
answering our prayers God allowed your life to continue.
As the years went by, you faced many struggles,
accident upon accident and your heart somestimes troubled.
Your toddler years were none other than adventurous,
some ailments normal and some outrageous.
Stitches in your head, knee and even an oral injury,
low blood cell counts that led to exploratory surgery.
Time seemed to pass and you were accident free,
now came the struggles of the heart you see.
You struggled with grades, friendships and heartaches of love,
thank God for the strength he sent from above.
You managed to grow and have wonderful friends,
when trouble arose you soon made amends.
You struggled with boyfriends and sometimes when they hurt you,
you managed to hang in there and continued to do,
what you did best and that was cheer,
you worked so hard and made me proud my dear.
I watched you grow and how beautiful you became,
while developing inner beauty just the same.
I feel certain while you were here on loan,
you touched many lives then God took you home.
Home to heaven and I know you'll be waiting,
for us all to get there when God decides the occasion.
Until then I will remember you baby,
being forever "18" and a most beautiful young lady.
I love you Erica, now and for eternity.
Mom
Erica Hall
April 12, 1983-October 14, 2001
My precious Erica was a senior in high school and was so full of life. She was a free spirit and the majority of the student body really liked her. She was a Varsity Cheerleader and was formerly on an all-star cheerleading team where they captured A National Championship title in February 2001. She was killed in a car wreck on a Sunday night and ever since my life changed and will forevermore be changed. This emptiness and void will live inside me until my passing. Erica has two brothers, Billy and Koree whom love her and miss her very much. I know Erica is with the Lord and is he ever so gracious to offer comfort in our time of grief. I have so much to share with everyone. Erica wrote poems and actually had one published and didn't live to see it. I read her poems in May of 2001 and for the life of me couldn't understand where her thought process was coming from. Her poems didn't make a bit of sense. Boy was I wrong. I believe God walked with Erica for some time before her accident. I tuly believe her poems are meant for us to see and gain some comfort.
One more thing... Erica collected Elephants and loved butterflies. The night before she died she and a friend of her boyfriend decided they were going to load a huge pumpkin and two small pumpkins into a shopping cart and stroll right out of a grocery store. Well, they did just that and got away with it. I would never approve of something of this nature but I have to be honest and say that I have laughed about it. However, the story gets better. The huge pumpkin was so big that it took two of her teenage friends to lift it. She had named it "Big Bertha"
and had plans of getting one more huge pumpkin. I put the huge pumpkin in my front yard and her Dad placed the two small pumpkins in his flower bed in front of his condo. Big Bertha lasted for a very long time but eventually started getting soft. I ask one of her friends and my oldest son if they would carry it around back until I could throw it away properly. Time passed and the pumpkin just dissolved. I was in the backyard in the spring and an odd plant was growing so I asked my husband what it was. A pumpkin plant! Yes, it was unbelievable!! It was a huge pumpkin patch and pumpkins are still growing as I am writing now. But the really awesome thing about the pumpkin patch is that it was in the shape of an elephant. I'm not kidding. Everyone could see it without a shadow of a doubt. I have gotten so much pleasure taking care of Elle's Elephant shaped pumpkin patch. I know this was a gift from God to help with my grief and I know it's just another way God is letting me know that Erica is now in his care. I will miss her and cry for her for the rest of my life but I will also continue to buy elepants, butterflies or whatever makes me feel better. I built a fountain in my front yard where she tumbled day after day after day. This is a story all in itself and I will share it with you at another time. I had to get myself together after I realized I was causing my boys to stay upset and worry about me so I decided to do so many things to keep her memory as vivid as possible. Erica will be my child until I die and to want to forget her no matter how painful the memories is not even an option. I will endure the heartache and remember my precious first born and only daughter, Erica Layne Hall.
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