In this issue of the Homeless Voice newspaper you will read a story titled, \u201cLong Live the Queen.\u201d On\u00a0October 22, 2012 the queen died. However the queen is still living. Our beloved Carol Massed is now\u00a0living in heaven with our and her best friend Johnny McCormick. She knew there was life after death\u00a0and many people reminded her that she needed to ask for forgiveness. In fact when I would see her in\u00a0hospice I would say to her Carol are you talking to Jesus and asking for forgiveness for your sins.
\nMore\u00a0than once she said \u201cwhat for, I did not do anything wrong?\u201d Then would smile and say, \u201cyes Sean.\u201d That\u00a0day as she was being transported by private ambulance from the hospice center to our hospice suite she\u00a0finally gave out.
\nThis was a woman who had many things wrong with her however you would not know it by her\u00a0strength, her ability to function, and her ability to drive me crazy. She would call herself an old goat but\u00a0one that would kick your butt. And she did kick my butt at times by hitting me with her cane. Then a\u00a0few weeks later if I was in need of back up in dealing with a violent client she was there and would jump\u00a0in front of me and offer to hit the person with her cane. Carol would get in her mood because of mental\u00a0illness. She would tell me and others off, hit us at times, get so mad and scream at me and at times she\u00a0would also do just the opposite of what I told her she needed to do. She was hard to get along with and\u00a0at the same time be your best friend, not just to me but to many others who knew her and loved her.
\nIn all the years I have done this I have only seen friends and family come to a funeral that was done\u00a0here at the shelter, maybe three times. We have had about 50 funerals that I can count on my fat little\u00a0fingers. But on October 23, 2012 that unfortunate past was changed to a much better situation. About\u00a070 people showed up for Carol\u2019s service. Not only from our population but former clients who made\u00a0it and living on their own outside of our shelter system. That was such a beautiful thing to see former\u00a0clients coming to honor the life of our Queen Bee Carol.
\nWhat shocked me even more than this was that Carol had three case\/social workers that worked for\u00a0Broward County also come to give their respect. Wow, that meant the world to me. To see these\u00a0three come to her service meant two things. That our Carol was loved and that the social workers who\u00a0serviced Carol did so not because it was their job, they honestly cared for Carol.
\nThe best moments of the last few weeks with Carol and I was that I surprised her by sending for her\u00a0daughter who lived in California. When I called her and told her that her mom was getting ready to\u00a0be put in hospice and death was near and she should be here I offered to pay her way because I knew\u00a0Carol would want to see her. Her Tonya came within the next 24 hours. The next moment I will not\u00a0forget is that when I would go to visit her in Hospice waiting for the all clear to bring her home back\u00a0to the shelter I would get right in her weak little face and say to her, \u201cCarol you were never homeless,\u00a0you lived with me and I love you so much, she would see the tears in my eyes and say back to me, I love\u00a0you too Sean. The last final moment of the service I called for a vote to change the name of one of our\u00a0properties from COSAC CITY to the new Carol Massed Campus\u2026. \u201cAll in favor say Yes!\u201d So on October\u00a023, 2012 Carols name will now be part of history and her name will be known to others for being such a\u00a0beautiful person who we all loved.
\nCarol, as you meet Jesus tell him we need His prayers but He knows that anyway. So maybe you can\u00a0hang out with Johnny and watch us from above and say some prayers yourself so we can function. \u00a0Carol not just I loved you, there were so many. I hope you know that even when I got mad at you, it\u00a0meant I loved you and I wanted you to do good.
\nCAROL WE ALL LOVED YOU SWEETIE AND FOR EVER IN MY MIND YOU WILL BE THE QUEEN OF COSAC,\u00a0QUEEN B, AND THE DANCING QUEEN. ONE LAST THING, BE THE QUEEN OF HEAVEN AND HELP OTHERS\u00a0FROM ABOVE WHEN THEY NEED IT.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In this issue of the Homeless Voice newspaper you will read a story titled, \u201cLong Live the Queen.\u201d On\u00a0October 22, 2012 the queen died. However the queen is<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1656,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[48,304],"class_list":["post-1653","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog-stories","tag-carol-massed","tag-the-queen"],"yoast_head":"\n