Shelbee Dayle Roberts
April 21, 2005 – August 18, 2012
On April 21,2005, our precious daughter, Shelbee Dayle Roberts, was born. As my son would say,”we were finally complete!”
From the very beginning it was as if she had an “old soul”….very knowledgeable and a heart so full of compassion! As a friend once told me,”There’s something about Shelbee! She’s the most spunky child I’ve met and yet she’s the most spiritual child!” Yes,that was my Shelbee….a spunky little firecracker who loved animals of all kinds,rodeo,dance,her family and friends and most of all…her Jesus!
On March 3,2011, I went to pick my sweet little girl from school. One of the teachers told me I was needed in Shelbee‘s classroom. The nurse was there with her. All these thoughts ran through my mind…she has asthma…PE was the last class of the day…was it an asthma attack?! Then,I thought…oh,her long jet black hair…she must have gotten lice somehow. Nothing prepared me for what happened next! I walked into my baby’s room and she turned to look at me! As she would say…”Mommy,remember the day my face fell?” Her face was drooping on one side! I knew I needed to take her to a doctor. I just didn’t know if I should drive the 1 1/2 hour trip to Lubbock to her pediatrician or stay locally due to the time of day. We went locally and had an appointment the next morning to see a pediatric neurologist. On March 4, 2011, a day forever embedded in my head, we were told our baby had an inoperable brain tumor. The horrific word, DIPG, would not enter our vocabulary…lives… until a few days later when we traveled to another hospital. Our world was completely shattered! We finally decided we would travel to Houston and seek treatment at MD Anderson!
Our Shelbee was always so full of life and constantly worried about everyone else! Once my dad had told her he was so sorry she was going through so much. Her response,”Pappa,this is life…it is what it is!” We always called it a “bump” and one day she held me with the only hand she could and told me she was going to go see her Jesus…she held and comforted me…that was my sweet Shells! One day she asked me if I could see Him? I asked her who? She replied,”Jesus,Mommy! Can’t you see Him?! He’s here…He never leaves my side!” And one afternoon as I was holding my baby, she asked me to call our pastor, Mr.Ned. She wanted to tell him that “Jesus was real and everyone needs to know!” So I called him and when he arrived at the house, my Shells was asleep! He told me he would be back in the morning to talk with her. Sadly,that was the last day my baby could speak! However, as Mr.Ned sat down next to Shells I told him all that she said! He smiled and with a weak hand my baby gave him a thumbs up! On August 18, 2012….my life…our lives…our hearts were broken! I held my amazing, strong, beautiful baby girl as she left my arms and went to be in her Heavenly Father’s Arms!
