The title (translated "Good morning, Princess") comes from the theme tune to the film "Life Is Beautiful", and was the music that Sharon came down the aisle to on our wedding day (
listen)....and for nearly 4 years now, it was also my immense privilege to wake up every morning next to her.
So many recent posts on the blog have been dealing with bad news about health and all of the tough times that she simply glossed over and got on with....In loving memory of the most special human being I have ever met, I would like this final entry to be one of thanksgiving and happy memories of someone that affected many of our lives.
Many people reading this will have known Sharon from much earlier on, when she was growing up in Midleton, when she attended college, or when she started working at RCI.
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| Sharon sat in between Heather & Elaine |
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| Sharon (on left) with her Mum & Sister |
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| Sharon with her husband to be |
My own memory of Sharon started on 14 January, 2000. I'd moved to Cork for a temporary work assignment and had been invited to a church meeting on that Friday evening. As the new boy, I expect I tried to hide discretely in the corner of the room, but simply remember being struck instantly by the godly person who was leading that meeting. Being a young guy at the time, I also found it hard to not notice that she was very pleasing to the eye.....
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| Meeting Ralph in Munich |
We became close friends over the following months, and finally broke my silence to Sharon on how I felt, sat on a rock down at Inchydoney beach in West Cork.
Rolling the clock forward a few more years, that same beach was the scene of another special conversation. It was where I proposed....and she said "yes" :-)
Quite simply, 18 July 2009 was the best day of my life. My bride looked stunning and I realised I was operating way out of my league. A special day with lots of happy memories. Everything just felt so perfect.
That feeling of things being perfect changed shortly afterwards when Sharon got news that she had breast cancer. And yet, despite tears and contemplating a challenging future, my wife was incredibly strong and faced up to it with an immensely positive attitude.....something which she maintained through the remainder of her life. She is my role model for facing up to unbelievably daunting circumstances with strength and courage.
I hope you may agree with me, that she was a special friend to many people. She was a faithful friend, always thinking of other people. She had a heart for children and dearly loved our nieces and those of other friends.
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| With the Carlaw Family |
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| With Alisha, Luana & Celina |
It was a tough one for us both to realise that we would not be able to have children of our own. I suspect that is why Sharon threw herself even more into loving others....given the chance, she would have made the most incredible mother (but I am unashamedly biased).
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| Holding baby Shannyn |
Any health issues in no way hindered her from being the perfect wife to me. We had to work through life as with any other married couple. However, Sharon exemplified love to me and I had so much more to learn from her. As a husband, I felt the utmost respect from her and loved her all the more for it.
This is all a bit heavy, so I think it's time to lighten up....
Many happy memories of booking a last minute trip somewhere nice. Sharon would frequently get accommodation through her workplace and we would quickly pack our bags and head off. We were so, so fortunate that she worked for such an amazing company as RCI. Full of fantastic people and will forever be grateful for the way in which the company have taken care of her whilst facing this battle.
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| Pictured with Paul |
We managed to pack a lot of travelling into our married lives together....Thailand, Australia, Switzerland, Canary Islands, Morocco, Portugal, plus lots of exploring within UK and Ireland.
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| Koh Samui, Thailand (July 2009) (Honeymoon) |
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| Elephant Trekking, Thailand (July 2009) (Honeymoon) |
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| Koh Samui, Thailand (July 2009) (Honeymoon) |
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| Sydney Harbour Bridge, January 2011 |
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| Sydney Harbour Bridge, January 2011 |
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| Hot Air Balloon, Alice Springs, January 2011 |
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| Pancakes In Paradise, Surfer's Paradise, January 2011 |
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| Uluru (Ayer's Rock), January 2011 |
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| "Summer Bay" (Home & Away), Sydney, January 2011 |
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| Twelve Apostles, Great Ocean Road, January 2011 |
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| Great Ocean Road, January 2011 |
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| Feeding our family of koalas, January 2011 |
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| Gran Canaria, April 2012 |
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| Switzerland, May 2012 |
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| With Steve & Ruth, Scotland, June 2012 |
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| Olympic Games, London, July 2012 |
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| Cape St Vincent, Portugal, September 2012 |
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| Lisbon, Portugal, September 2012 |
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| With Leslie & Evelyn, Lanzarote, October 2012 |
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| Eden Project, Cornwall, December 2012 |
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| St Michael's Mount, Cornwall, December 2012 |
However, if I'm being honest, Sharon didn't have a clue how to travel lightly. Most of my luggage allowance would be taken up with her things. I am grateful to Amazon for inventing the Kindle which helped reduce the amount of books I had to cart around for her.
Although we both enjoyed the buzz of getting to see various places, Sharon especially naturally desired that we had a place of our own. Somewhere we could call our home. This finally became a reality recently when we completed the purchase of our first house in April. The day after getting the keys, Sharon went downhill with her health and spent the next fortnight in hospital. In fact, there were many hospital visits and stays whilst we struggled to get the place decorated and furnished ready for us to move. It truly breaks my heart that Sharon never actually got to live in the house and something that I am struggling to deal with right now.
I know she would want to thank all the love that people showed to help us in these recent weeks.
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| Thanks Ash! |
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| Thanks Rob & Julian (& Sue & Sarah)! |
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| Thanks Mum & Andrea! |
Despite the prominent place that she held for her family and friends, the most important aspect in her life was her relationship with Jesus. Out of all the endless attributes I could list about my wife, this was the most attractive.
I had so much to learn from her as I saw God's love in action at very close quarters. I know that many of you may have seen this for yourselves seeing this love being lived out in Sharon's all too short life.
At the time of writing this, all I feel is the senseless pain of a Sharon-shaped hole in my life...I'm sure others will be feeling the same. Sharon's time here with us held great meaning....we are all the richer for knowing her. I am the most blessed of all to have loved her as my wife. I will continue to love her and do all I can to share the memory of what she stood for and the example she set to us.
So, I may not be able to wake up in the mornings from now on and say "good morning, princess" but I want to state how privileged and blessed I was to have her in my life.
I will always love you, Mrs Pearce!
If you have any tributes to Sharon, please feel free to leave as a comment. Also, if you have any photos with Sharon in, and would like to share them, I will update them below if you can email them to me.
Thank You!
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