Sarah Bowman

LIFE SO BLESSED Sarah Elisabeth Bowman, born of Chinese decent around February 3, 1990 in Guangzhou, China. Her mother loved her little girl and took her to a hospital where someone would find her and care for her. For three years she lived in an orphanage with little love or proper care, but being of strong will she survived. She had learned to stand and feed herself but she never spoke for the first three and a half years of her life. One day God brought her into the life of a middle-aged woman needing a special love. During the years that I lived with Sarah I learned that God had her under his loving arms. At age five she would watch movies about Jesus and every time she saw Jesus on the cross her heart would break and she would weep for the longest time. With many miracles he brought us two together and us sent them home to America to live for 18 years as a family. Sarah never healed completely from the harshness of living in the orphanage. She had many issues that kept her in an innocent childlike world. Many years were spent trying to teach her to live in an adult world. Plans and programs were put together to help her learn. One goal for Sarah was to teach of about strangers. No one was ever a stranger to Sarah. She knew all the correct verbal responses to Stranger Danger questions that the Techs who worked daily with her asked, but in actuality she never put into place. If someone looked sad or alone she was anxious to run up the person to give a hug and with her innocence pop up with an off the wall statement, which made the person laugh and walk away in better condition than before. One day on one of her outings with a Tech she began to complain of a pain in her neck. In February 2012 cancer was located in her left jaw. She went through months of tests, surgery and then six weeks of radiation. Doctors said if she made it past the second year she could be called healed. Hoping for the best we went on with life. By September she began to have pains in her shoulders. Doctors said they couldn't find anything, but by the middle of December Sarah was losing strength in her legs and arms. On December 21after going to the ER the doctor said that we needed to have an MRI. On December 27 a CT scan showed that the cancer had returned with a vengeance. Radiation was again used but with no positive reaction. Doctor gave a suspected date line of survival till the fall. Even though we tried to keep the terrible truth from her, she knew that she was dying even before the adults learned of it. In the past four months she would ask me, "Mom, am I going to die?" I would choke and come up with, "Not today. We all die sometime." The last week of her life we spent enjoying each other. We were watching AFV on TV on the February 14 and Tom Bergeron was narrating a clip about dogs. A momma and papa and babies were running around playing. Tom says something about how we need to spay and neuter our animals. Sarah looks at me and said, "Mom do we have to spray our noodles?" I thought I would fall out of my chair. I am so thankful that my last memories will be of her and the joy she brought to my life. Sarah went to sleep for the last time on Friday, February 15. the hospital room buzzed as friends moved in and out to say goodbye and share their favorite Sarah experience. Sarah has touched so many lives in her twenty-three short years. So many fun memories were shared and so much love shown. My heart ran over with thanksgiving to each person who had spent their time and lives caring for Sarah. At eleven p.m. she took her last breath and walked into the arms of Jesus on February16th. The last six girls who worked with Sarah were such a blessing to me. They took such love and patience with her. They never complained or got angry with her no matter how many times she changed her mind or refused to comply with requests. Sarah just had to call, Hey lady or excuse me and they were right at her side to help. I enjoyed having them in my home 24/7. Sarah is survived by her mother Janis Bowman of Twin Falls, special friend Ruby Hammond and a host of friends. She will be truly missed by all who knew and loved her. A service of remembrance will be held on Tuesday, February 26, 2013 at Parke's Magic Valley Funeral Home, 2551 Kimberly Rd., with Pastor Bruce Carlson presideing. Private family inurnment will follow at a later date. Arrangements are under the direction of Parke's Magic Valley Funeral Home of Twin Falls. Those who wish may share memories and condolences on Ssarah's memorial page at www.magicvalleyfuneralhome.com.