Dying Mom's Wish to See Son Graduate Comes True (521 hits)
Sheila Burton, 46, had been battling colon cancer since 2007. About a year ago, doctors informed her family that the cancer had spread into her liver and lungs. On Mother's Day of this year, things took a turn for the worse, creating an urgency for something to be done to fulfill her final wish. Her only desire before dying: To see the last of her three children, Darius Jenkins, 17 - who was scheduled to graduate Tuesday from Cahokia High School - receive his high school diploma, according to her son, Demario Helm, 29.
"It was her final wish to be able to see my brother graduate from high school," said Helm. "I contacted the school district because we knew that in the condition she was in, she only had a limited amount of time to be with us."
Dr. Pamela Manning, the first African-American superintendent of the Cahokia School District in Cahokia, Illinois, said that granting the request to move Jenkins' graduation date up was the least that she could do. "Darius is a great student," Manning said. "We wanted him to see that we cared about him as a person, not just limited to making sure that he had a quality education."
Helm called Manning the next day with good news. "He had everything set up.
They even moved his mother to a bigger room to accommodate those who may want to attend. I was surprised when we walked in to see all of the people there - from the media and my school board members, as well as the present and past board presidents," Manning said. Burton had served as a bus driver for the school district for 17 years. "
It was a whole community affair," said Manning. "We gave Darius an angel to give to her, which represented courage for both. It was our pleasure to do it. How dare us not do it? He is a great student. It made me very happy. It was a wonderful feeling to know that we could grant someone's wishes.
I was very happy that we could do it." It was purely by the grace of God that she was able to see [Darius] graduate," said Helm. "She had been in and out of sleep up until the graduation, but she stayed awake during the entire ceremony and even smiled once my brother received his diploma. She seemed so very relieved."
