🌻My Remembrance of Aimee 🌻
- Thirst No More Corporation
- 8 minutes ago
- 7 min read
I believe the last time I posted a blog was this past February. You know how life just seems to move a such a pace, you forget to keep your loyal followers and supporters abreast of all the things going on.
By this time most of you know about the tragedy that befell our family a few weeks ago when our beautiful Aimee (Noemi) was taken away from us by a gunshot and fire. I will not even try to express the various emotions we have been through; from the moment that she was reported missing, to the realization that she was gone from law enforcement, to the capture of the assailant, to the graphic photos of our girl that we could not hide from our grandsons, to the misleading and inaccurate reporting on her demise; each one of our global family (Lilith, "Lee," Lewis "Dude," Naomi, "Nae," and Angel "Dan") and a host of grandchildren and great-grands have all had to absorb this horrible occurrence.
From this point on, the words that I share will come solely from my perspective. I would never try to analysis what other members of our family my be feeling. I do know this, especially for myself, Myra, and our grandsons, we have been there for each other through anguish, tears, anger, and frustrations. We are living in the presence of Almighty God, who has drawn us together more securely, and with more grace. Psalm 34:18: "The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit." There is no better scripture to express how I feel about things currently.
I have to be honest with you all, I received some early counsel from people I truly love that
immediately recommended that I get therapy during my bereavement. I cannot tell you how this would never be my first move. Everything I believe in stems from my faith; meaning I go to God with all of my sorrows, burdens, victories, and supplications. I believe in the power of prayer, and have encouraged our family to follow my lead on this. Now I am not being critical of professionally trained counselors (preferably who identify as followers of Christ), however, Christ is my counselor, Matthew 11:28-29: "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls."
There were also people that were at the funeral service who really troubled me. This is where I know the Lord has sustained me. In one instance, a person who literally stole from my family, sued me, and received a financial payout even though Myra and I were the victims, showed up as if none of this had happened. In my mind all I could think of was "how dare you disrespect the memory of our daughter just so you can appear to have sympathy." Truthfully, I needed Christ and Myra to calm me down...I was boiling on the inside. The second instance came from a family that me, and my dear friend Steven, had been visiting and praying with for several weeks, first decided that me and Steven weren't doing anything to help them, simple because they saw a situation of Facebook where we and others combined to help a person who has no activity of their limbs or speech. From this jealousy, they refused our visitations, and in one case, I was cursed out. It was this family that also showed up at the funeral and tried to offer their sympathies without any apology to either myself or Steven. Again, Christ and Myra came to my rescue...but as you can probably figure out, it still bothers me.
Christ and time are definitely healers, and writing this now is part of my therapy and recovery, however let it be said, GOD IS TRULY AMAZING!!! Where are we at currently you may ask? Well let me share what has happened, and how each one of you has blessed me and our family. Extended family members and friends right here in our community of Chiquimula, Guatemala volunteered their time and talents to literally event plan Aimee's funeral; providing flowers, food, money, time, and service to allow us to grieve. Our U.S. clan also sent prayers, money, and encouragements our way; all these blessings were God's way of helping me not focus on a few distractions; the abundance of love and sympathies have overwhelmed me. In this, I am absolutely grateful and humbled.
I love all my children, even the gazillions of them who call me Dad. As I close out this message today, I want to share a few personal reflections I have about my girl. The first memory goes all the way back to 2016. This was my first time in Guatemala. I had a small team with me, including our daughter Naomi, with the sole purpose of setting up computers for my then future wife Myra and her young adult program, and doing VBS with the children. In my mind, I was leaving all that up to my team while I got a chance to just absorb the culture. Well God had a different plan. Out of nowhere Aimee just burst unto the scene and seemingly, took all the oxygen out of the air. I found myself with Naomi and Aimee both hustling me out of money to shop...and I didn't even care. Aimee literally got me to pay for a pair of leather boots that cost about $200. I can't remember how much Naomi got me for. It was during our time in Antigua that Aimee asks me out of the blue, "do you like my mom?" I was stunned and could only reply, "I don't know!" I even tell Myra, I fell for Aimee first as a daughter; Myra came was next and became my forever bonus love ❤️❤️❤️❤️and precious wife. I am definitely winning!
Aimee and I were notorious for our daddy/daughter dates (for the record, I've dated all my daughters).These outings with Aimee were always filled with our favorite foods, especially steak with grilled onions (how in the world did I have a daughter who loves onions both raw and grilled, and any amount?), a few tears because she had lost both her biological father and mother and was still trying to find her way. This is where I am so thankful to God for allowing me to father her. Anyway, it was during an outing last year that makes me laugh so hard. Picture this, beautiful Aimee walks into Toscanos Restaurant in Chiquimula. Here comes old man me right by her side, smiling. Imagine the diners in the restaurant staring at the two of us with such intensity that I had to explain to the entire restaurant that I was not a Sugar Daddy, but her real daddy 😂😂😂! Guys you have understand Chiquimula is a community of people that are either related to one another, or they simply know who you are. These folks were used to seeing my strolling around the town with Myra, but with this young woman half my age???😂😂😂 It still makes me laugh just thinking about the looks on people's faces....unbelievable.
My Aimee loved to sing, another thing that
connected us. There are so many videos that I was able to capture that shows the joy she had every time she had an opportunity to sing. She was even part of a women's praise team that I had the honor to direct for a short period. What my girl may have lacked in talent, she made up for with passion.
For the past two years, Aimee would bring the boys over on Friday evenings after our weekly Bible Study to have a family night. Between Myra and Aimee they would determine the nocturnal treats, but it always ended up with the family favorite card game, Five Crowns. Like me, Aimee was very competitive and this made for some "friendly spirited" moments. If you know anything about Five Crowns, you know that the low score wins, and the number of rounds you win with zero, determines the ultimate winner. Aimee had this knack of closing us all out with consecutive zeros which would drive me nuts and make her laugh with glee. Oh that laugh, none like it and that is what I reflect on the most. However, in the past few months she would joking call me Don Lewis instead of her usual Papi or Dadi. Well in Spanish being called Don is an act of ultimate respect; it was that Lewis part that she used to tease me. I really prefer Mac, but the way she would say it, especially after a crushing victory in Five Crown, always brings a smile to my face...teasing me and loving me all in the same breath.
I needed to write this, get it all out, and prayerfully, do it in a way that honors my girl and let's you in on the Aimee I knew. Like everyone else, she had troubles in her life. It is never easy when you are transitioning from a children's home to a loving yet stern Myra, who determined to show Aimee the best way to grow in her faith and womanhood. Along the way, she blessed the earth with three incredible sons whom Myra and I are now responsible for. I am so glad to share that, after crashing in our small home for a week and a half, the Lord blessed us through Pastor Leonel and his wife Joanna, with a connection that ended up allowing us to rent the boys a home in our same development at a very reasonable monthly price. We spend time together at lunchtime and most evenings, depending on the boy's school and after-school activities. The boys will regularly attend Myra's youth program each Saturday afternoon, led by our youth pastor Danny Danny Menéndez. Our oldest grandson Criss has been amazing in his maturity during this time; getting his brothers to their classes, helping with clean-up around our house, and making sure homework is being done and breakfast and evening snacks are prepared. Myra has become the main cook these days; enjoying trying our her recipes for her men. We have our days like any other parent; assuring discipline is administered, but I truly believe we are doing great through the strength of the Lord. I even make sure the boy's father is kept up to date on what is happening with his boys while he can't be with us. Please continue to keep us in prayer, it is well appreciated and needed.
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