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Love Never Dies A Love Letter to My Deceased Cousin, Dr. Sherylanne Wade
How do you say goodbye to someone that you love so much? We were related by blood as cousins, but in our hearts, we were sisters.
The epitome of cool, like Miles or Maya. In fact, you loved Maya Angelou so much that you gave your only daughter her namesake.
Brooklyn-born, with feminine swagger, AA, and Caribbean roots, your intelligence showed up early, and by the age of 16, you were accepted to Barnard College, which was and is related to Columbia University. By the time I arrived at Columbia, you were crushing it at Downstate School of Medicine.
We would see each other at mutual house parties or parties on campus. You paved the way for me to follow you both into med school and as an ob-gyn physician. Our great-great-grandma Mariah’s roots run deep. I asked you if getting into med school was “hard,” and you said, “Yeah, but you can do it.”
Our extended family jammed at your graduation party, and then you and your new hubby drove from BK to the west coast, slipping and sliding on the roads, and you trekked to your new life. You did your residency at Drew Medical and remained in Cali, where that LA vibe fit you like a glove.
You taught me to always get the fetal heart tones before anything else when a patient comes into…
