Sheron Patterson

Incredibly, another clergy friend has cancer. This time, it's my old friend, Sheron Patterson. Sheron is probably known to some of you. She occasionally writes op-eds for the Morning News, and appears in other media settings. So, if you think you recognize her, you probably do.
Sometime after my friend Kathleen Baskin announced her cancer, Sheron also went public with her breast cancer diagnosis too. I was watching the news just night to discover that she had surgery just today. I knew she had cancer. What I didn't know until I watched the news just a couple of minutes ago was that her surgery was today.

So, I am writing this quick blog tonight, and asking for your prayers for her as well. Sheron and I were at Perkins School of Theology at the same time. We shared several classes together, but there's been way too much time pass for either of us to remember what they were now. What brought us together is that we'd both been journalism majors in college. Sheron also later became good friends with one of my residence hall bosses (Jennifer). Sheron, her husband Robert, Jennifer and I went out to dinner a couple of times back in those days.

Sheron and I were ordained around the same time. That's not significant. But her's was on its own, because she was the first African American woman ever ordained in the North Texas Conference. That seems hard to imagine. Then again, given other "firsts" I've seen even more recently, I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

Like most of my other friends, I don't see her as much as I should these days. (Frankly, I am beginning to seriously contemplate just how troubling that is. How do we let friends just slip away and not keep up?)

Here's her website, where you can find all sorts of info. into the many great facets of her life. And here's an essay into today's DMN that talks about today's surgery. Here's the story FOX4 did tonight.

I am thinking and praying for Sheron tonight, and I hope you will too.