by Mary May
Sherrilyn stayed quiet when Marley stopped for a minute. She understood that revealing this to a total stranger wasn’t easy, even if the stranger had a very similar story.
Finally, she continued. “One night I finally had enough. I don’t know where I found the courage, but I packed my bags and left. I moved in with my brother because Matthew was the one person that Emmett couldn’t intimidate. Matthew was a Marine and I thought there was no place on this earth where I could be safer. I didn’t tell my brother the real reason I left Emmett. He would have killed him if I had. So I just told him things just wasn’t working out between us and left it at that. I suspect that he may have known something more was going on, but he didn’t say anything.”
Marley paused again, taking a deep breath. Sherrilyn once more held out her hand and this time Marley took it. Holding it tightly, she told the rest of her story. “I thought everything was going to be okay. I had been out for over three months and Emmett had left me alone for the most part. He called a lot the first week or two, but once Matthew got on the phone and told him that it would be in his best interest to leave me alone, he did. I should have known better. He had told me countless times that if I ever left he would kill me. But I really couldn’t believe he actually would try to do it. One afternoon Matthew left for work and since it was my day off I decided to go pick up a few groceries. I went to the store, got what I needed and was walking back to my car when Emmett approached me. I was in a public place with people everywhere, so I wasn’t afraid. I should have been. Emmett stopped about three feet from me and tossed the acid right into my face, saying that no one would want me now.”
The room was filled with silence as both women replayed the most horrific moment of their lives.
Finally, Sherrilyn spoke. “Did they catch him? Is he in jail?”
“Oh, yes, but not for as long I would like. They could only charge him with aggravated assault, which is a class C felony. He got the maximum fifteen-year sentence.”
Sherrilyn squeezed her hand in sympathy. “You would think being his intent was to seriously lower your quality of life for the rest of your life, his quality of life should be lowered for the rest of his. Marley, did the acid get into your eyes? Can you still see?”
“I can see out of my left eye. When he tossed the cup, I turned my head to the left so the right side received most of the damage. Here, let me see your hand. I will let you feel it.”
“Oh, sweetheart, you don’t have to do that if you don’t want to! I don’t want you doing anything that will make you uncomfortable,” Sherrilyn insisted.
“No, it’s okay. I want to.” Lifting Sherrilyn’s hand, she placed it against the right side of her face.
Sherrilyn stroked her fingers over the scars, feeling the rough and bumpy texture. Through her fingertips she saw why Marley couldn’t see out of her right eye. The skin had melted down over it. She then ran her fingers lightly over her left side. The skin on that felt much smoother and softer with very little scarring. Bringing her hand back to the right side, she stroked the other woman’s hair, feeling large bald patches where the acid had burned her scalp. Finally, she cupped Marley’s face in her hand.
“I’m sorry, Marley. I’m so sorry that this happened to you,” she whispered.
“How do you get over this? Have you gotten over it?” Marley asked.
Sherrilyn pondered Marley’s question. “Have I gotten over it? I don’t know that this is something you get over. You adjust and learn to deal with it. I mean, my injuries will be with me for the rest of my life, so I can’t exactly forget about them.”
“How do you keep from wanting to lash out at everyone? I want to kill Emmett with my bare hands if I could. I want him to suffer and experience the same pain I feel.”
Sherrilyn gave Marley a tender smile. “Now this question I do have an answer for. Marley, I don’t know what your religious preference is or if you even have one. But the way I got rid of my anger and bitterness was by giving it to God. I understand how you feel. I felt the same emotions except I didn’t wish I could kill Lonnie because he was already dead. He died in the fire. I wanted him alive so he could suffer. I thought that he got the easy way out, but I know now that he didn’t. What he is suffering is far worse than anything he did to me.”
“I don’t understand. How could he be suffering?”
“Because he died in his sin. He died not knowing the Lord, so he is experiencing eternal damnation. It’s one thing to suffer for life, but eternity is forever with no hope, no way out.”
Marley was quiet after she had finished speaking.
Sherrilyn knew that the only way she would ever be able to live her life with any kind of peace was to surrender it all to God. She wasn’t sure if what she had said would help to convince her one way or another. After all, she wasn’t a preacher. She couldn’t spout off scripture after scripture that could help guide someone. All she had was her story…her testimony.
It turned out that was enough. Before leaving her room, Marley asked Sherrilyn if she would pray with her. She wanted the peace and forgiveness that Sherrilyn had. The two women bowed their heads and together they cried out to their heavenly Father and Creator of their souls. For only the sculptor that created the masterpiece could repair it, and as Marley laughed and wept tears of joy and release, she knew that yet another life had been restored.
Later that night Sherrilyn thought long and hard about what had happened with Marley earlier. What if she hadn’t been willing to talk to her to open up her heart and show her the way? She knew there were doctors and therapists that would have tried to help her. They could prescribe all sorts of medications to help her cope with the tremendous loss, but they couldn’t heal her totally. The best they could offer was a Band-Aid for her wounds. Feeling an overwhelming need to reach out to others, she prayed.
“Lord, I know there are so many others out there like Marley. Who will shine your light for them to find their way out of the darkness? Who will show them what the power of your love can do?”
Once more that still small voice whispered, “Now you have your reason for living.”
Covering her face, Sherrilyn wept when the realization of what God needed her to do filled her. She remembered back on her night of surrender when she had asked God why He wanted her to live; now she knew. To help others find the way.
“All right, Lord, we have a lot of work to do!”
Tagin smiled when Sherrilyn finally understood the purpose that God had for her. Ever since she had received her own spiritual healing, Sherrilyn had blossomed into one of the most loving and generous souls that he had ever seen. He knew that many lives that the enemy had tried to destroy would be restored, and in turn those lives would touch others. It was like when one match caught fire, it would ignite the others in the matchbook. Sherrilyn was doing her best to ignite the world!
Chapter 8
Over the course of the next few months, while Sherrilyn continued to heal from her own external wounds, she helped several more find healing for their internal ones. With every heart that was mended, with every life that was renewed, she knew without a doubt that she had found her calling. Kendall had teased her, saying that she was shining so brightly they were going have to throw a blanket over her so everyone could sleep.
“Oh, no! You’re not putting this light under a bushel!” Sherrilyn teased back. Walking over, Kendall placed a kiss on Sherrilyn’s blonde curls. “No, I wouldn’t dream of it. Besides, as bright as you are, you would shine right through it anyway.”
Sherrilyn grabbed Kendall’s hand tightly. “Kendall, I need your help. I really do want to help others.”
Dropping to her knees in front of Sherrilyn’s wheelchair, Kendall saw the determination in Sherrilyn’s eyes. “Honey, you are helping people. You have already helped so many and you haven’t even left the hospital yet.”
“But that’s my point. I’m here. What happens when I leave? I need a place where people can come to me. I want a place
where people can come and be restored. Not just physically but emotionally as well. There are tons of places for physical therapy, but where are the places for spiritual therapy?”
“Honey, isn’t that what churches are for?” Kendall asked with a confused frown.
Sherrilyn agreed. “Yes, and they are wonderful, but what I’m talking about is being surrounded with people that have a similar experience as you. Knowing that you are not the only one goes a long way.” She paused, trying to find the right words to describe what she was trying to say. “Listen, people can tell you how to do something because they have the knowledge from reading a book. But when someone tells you how to do something because they experienced it, then they wrote the book; it’s a whole other ball of wax. Being with someone who has actually been through what you went through and truly understands the emotional and, yes, even the physical trauma and can stand in front of you telling you that life can be good again. That’s what I want to offer. I know now that’s why God saved me, to show others.”
Kendall stood up and drew her into a warm hug. “What can I do to help?”
“We need a house. A really big house with lots of rooms and a big yard with flowers and trees and…and ducks! I want a pond filled with ducks and geese and swans.”
Unable to resist the excitement in Sherrilyn’s voice, Kendall laughed. “All right, my friend, we will find you the perfect place and I will make sure you have your ducks!”
“I already have the perfect name for it, Lost Haven. It will be a sanctuary for those who are lost and searching for their way back.”
Placing a hand On Sherrilyn’s shoulder, Kendall smiled. “That is beautiful. I promise we will find your Lost Haven, and I know that miracles will happen there.”
Kendall searched for well over a year for just the perfect spot for Sherrilyn’s dream. But one after another they encountered problems with every possible location. Finally, she found the exact place that Sherrilyn had described.
“I found it! I found it!” Kendall came into Sherrilyn’s room all smiles. “Honey, it’s exactly what you asked for! This place is huge…like crazy huge but it’s beautiful with an enormous yard. It has lots of flower beds and trees and a gazebo around back covered in roses.”
Sherrilyn listened, growing more and more excited as Kendall described the property. “Oh! Praise God, it sounds wonderful!” she exclaimed.
“It truly is wonderful, and guess what?” Kendall asked.
“What?”
“It has your ducks! At least I think they were ducks anyway. There is a large pond on the west side of the house filled with all kinds floating feathered creatures. It also has a really huge outbuilding. I’m not sure what it’s for, but you could always rent it out to the NFL to supplement your income if needed. But there is one thing that concerns me.”
“What is it? You had me so excited. The house sounds perfect,” Sherrilyn said.
“Honey, like I said, this place is huge. It could be used as a hotel; seriously, it’s that big.”
“Okay? I think huge is wonderful. The more rooms we have, the more people we can help. If there is a problem, you’re going to have to point it out to me because I ain’t seeing it.”
“The house is over four million dollars. Do you think you can get financing for that much? Then how will you make the payments on a loan that size? I know you still have money coming in from your albums, but that won’t last forever.” She stopped when she saw Sherrilyn smiling at her. “What? What aren’t you telling me? Do you have four million stashed away somewhere?”
“Yup,” Sherrilyn replied with a grin.
“I’m serious, Sherry! I guess we could apply for loan, maybe even apply for grants, being it will be a non-profit, but that could take a long time to get approved. But on the other hand, it’s not likely to sell fast because it’s so big and expensive. We will just have to pray that God will find a way if this is the place for us. Why are you smiling like that?”
Sherrilyn busted out laughing, “Because you are standing there about to stroke out over getting the money and wondering if God will provide it when He already has!”
Kendall frowned down at her friend. “You do not have four million dollars, Sherry!”
“You’re right; I don’t…I have thirteen.” Sherrilyn didn’t need eyes to know that Kendall was staring at her with a shocked expression. But after she explained that the she had money from Lonnie’s life insurance and savings, plus money from the sale of the studio, all Kendall could do was laugh.
A few weeks later they pulled up the estate’s driveway. The house was built with gray stone and was three stories. She described each detail to Sherrilyn, who was sitting next to her.
“Who owned the house previously?” Sherrilyn asked.
“It was an elderly couple…umm… what were their names? Oh! Laskers…their last name was Laskers. They were from Germany, I think. They both died and had no family to leave it to. Well, I take that back; there actually was someone and this is kind of strange, but according to the realtor, the butler comes with the house.”
Turning her head, Sherrilyn frowned. “Huh? What do you mean he comes with the house?”
“Well, he has no family and no other place to live. The will stated that the house could be sold but only if the butler was allowed to stay. They have a special account set up for him that basically pays his salary, so you don’t even have to pay him,” Kendall explained.
“Well, that’s certainly different. Are we ready to go in? I’m dying to explore the house and meet my new butler!”
Pushing Sherrilyn’s wheelchair up to the front door, Kendall rang the doorbell. The door was opened by an elderly gentleman dressed in a black suit.
“Yes? May I help you?” he asked. His accent was thick, but Sherrilyn found it charming.
“Hello, my name is Kendall and this is Sherrilyn Foster. She is the new owner of the house. Did the realtor tell you that we would be dropping by today?”
The butler looked at Sherrilyn, taking in her wheelchair and her scars, but whatever he may have thought was hidden behind his expressionless face. “Yes, I was informed that the new owner would be arriving today.”
Holding out her hand, Sherrilyn smiled brightly. “Hi there, it’s good to meet you. You can just call me Sherry. What’s your name?”
The gentleman took Sherrilyn’s offered hand, bowing at the waist in a charming old world manner.
“I am Edgar. I am pleased to make your acquaintance, madam.”
THE END
