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Checking In: A Tribute To My Sister, Maya Anna Warren

James Warren July 13, 2022
13253 Views 27 Comments

July is Minority Mental Health Month. I just learned that. So I guess it’s fitting that I talk about this. Today. Tomorrow. Next month. Next year. Until I don’t have anything else to say.

My sister, Maya Warren, died by suicide at some point in the couple of days leading up to Friday, June 17, 2022. That is the date on her death certificate, because that is the day that I discovered her in her home, and the day the authorities were able to pronounce her death; the simple truth that I don’t know exactly when she died haunts me.

As I write this, it has been nearly four weeks since my sister died. It is a time warp to me. It feels like it was seconds ago. I am constantly replaying the scene – that scene – in my head. My wife is traumatized, too. She was with me as we discovered my sister, and when I was immediately shocked, I asked her to go back inside her apartment to make sure I actually saw what I thought I had seen. And of course, it was real. It was true. Maya was gone.

My wife and I, our kids, our whole family and my sister’s dear friends and colleagues are processing this sudden loss, the depth of our grief as best as we can. We are talking. Leaning on one another. I know we need counseling because there is so much to unpack, and I promise you, I will get it. The grief is profound every time we lose our loved ones, and I’ve lost several now. And, this one feels different. 

With the death of my sister, I am the only one that remains from my immediate family growing up. My father, my mother, and my sister, all gone. I feel like I’ve lost the nucleus of what held us together. I feel like an orphan. A friend told me that her husband, who similarly is the last of his family, describes it as being the sole survivor. Accurate. I am surprised and somewhat ashamed that I am the one who has survived all the mess, all the trauma – externally and self-inflicted – that our family has endured. Why me? Good God, why me?

Caption: Maya and me, probably around five or six years old. Always getting into something.

My sister was brilliant, loving and loved. And I have so many questions, many of which I know I’ll never have all the answers to. I do know this. Her journey was so, so difficult and she suffered from depression. We experienced significant and long-term traumas during our childhood and adolescence. Her grief over our mother’s death only intensified as the years went by. And Covid took a much greater toll on her than I realized. That said, she fought long as she could and as hard as she could.  She was so compassionate: she didn’t want any of us to know the full extent of what she was dealing with, so she shared only a sliver of her pain with each of us. I am forever grateful to Maya for her life and her presence. At some point, we all die. We all leave this earth. And regardless of how we go, what seems far more important to me in this moment is to examine how she lived, not how she died; to examine how WE live, not how we die.

I delivered the eulogy at Maya’s funeral. There was never going to be anyone else to do this. I gave my mother’s eulogy. I was going to give Maya’s as well, no matter what. I share it with you here today, because it is part of how I am coping. It is part of how I am grieving. And Maya’s life AND death have lessons for us. Lessons in taking care of one another. In checking in on one another. In loving one another and loving ourselves.

As I said when I shared the devastating news of my sister’s death by suicide: CHECK IN. Make the call. Mental health matters. We need to support and help those who experience these medical conditions by helping remove the stigma of depression and other mental illnesses, and not only in the most extreme cases that result in death by suicide. For me, that starts with honoring Maya’s life and rejecting any notion that her death must be whispered about in hushed tones.

So please join in celebrating Maya’s life and honoring her death, by reaching out to someone you know who is struggling with their mental health. Do it now, even if you’re not sure. Let your loved ones – and yourself! – know there is no shame in needing or getting help with depression, anxiety or other mental illnesses. Make the call today. (I’ve included some resources at the end.)

I love you to life, Maya. I love you to life.  

Caption: Maya and me in Virginia Beach, a little while after our Mom passed away.

 

Eulogy for Maya A. Warren
Unity of Bon Air, Richmond, Virginia
July 7, 2022

Good morning. My name is James Walter Warren, Jr., son of Gwendolin Sims Warren and James Walter Warren, Sr., husband of Darcy Rae Warren, father of Christian Tyler Warren, Jordan Cole Warren, Evan Michael Warren, and Alexis Rae Warren, and brother of Maya Anna Warren.

To all of you who are here, who are watching online, and who couldn’t make it today but are here through your intention, thank you. Yes, it is possible to feel love and support from hundreds, possibly thousands of people. I know, because we feel it today.

To everyone who helped us get to today, to make Maya’s homegoing possible, under really difficult circumstances, thank you. Your compassion and service to our family is deeply, deeply appreciated.

I want to begin with a poem:

Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep
By Author Unknown

Do not stand at my grave and weep,
I am not there, I do not sleep.
I am in a thousand winds that blow,
I am the softly falling snow.
I am the gentle showers of rain,
I am the fields of ripening grain.
I am in the morning hush,
I am in the graceful rush
Of beautiful birds in circling flight,
I am the starshine of the night.
I am in the flowers that bloom,
I am in a quiet room.
I am in the birds that sing,
I am in each lovely thing.
Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there. I do not die.

I chose this poem because it speaks to me about the eternal, omnipresent nature of love, the eternal, omnipresent nature of spirit. We are spiritual beings after all, here in this world, in this life, and for my Marvel fans, in this universe, but for a moment.

And eternity comforts me. Because it means I remain connected to Maya for all time. Through love. 

Because LOVE… IS… ETERNAL

I think of Maya, and I think of two things… her smile, and her love.

I mean, look at that smile! Whether she was grinning, laughing, or giving you a quiet, peaceful look, she always smiled right AT you. She smiled with her WHOLE face!

Caption: I love this picture of Maya from back in the day, NYC, I think. She loved wearing bright colors and rocking her hoop earrings!

And I think the reason Maya’s smile was so big, was because she had so much love.

I view Maya’s love through three frames:

Faith in God
Family
Friends

Faith

Her faith in God, and her love FOR God was special. Maya faced an extraordinary amount of challenges in her life, from the earliest days; she kept most of these challenges private, but you know who she took them to? To God.

If Maya confided in you, even a fraction of what she had been through, you often came away astounded at how she had overcome so much; yes, I was there for many of the same trials, but Maya’s road was uniquely hard.

And still, she continued to find her way back to God… she often wrote about her pain, and based on what she shared with me, her writing was an outpouring to God; I don’t know that she pleaded or begged God to make her life easier, but I know how much she cried to God. And yet, she loved God. How amazing is that?

I remember when Maya first brought Darcy, me and the kids here, to Unity. She said, there are angels everywhere here. Mom loves angels! I thought she was speaking, you know, metaphorically. Then we walked through the gardens. And I realized, Oh, she’s talking LITERALLY. All the angels. If you haven’t taken a walk around the gardens here, do that. Yes, Maya and Mom loved their angels, which I take to mean they are in good company now. 

So, the question is: what might we take away from Maya’s life and her love for God? We’ll come back to this. 

Family

Maya’s love for family was expressed so clearly through her devotion to our mother while she was alive, and her devotion to me, my wife and the kids. I remember a time during Darcy’s and my rehearsal dinner, when Maya came over to me and she said, “I’m so impressed with you.” I asked her why. She said, “Because you just do it. If you believe in something, you go for it. I don’t know where you got that from.” Well of course, I got that from her and Mom! Who else would I have learned it from?  

Caption: Maya, Mom and me, I think at her college graduation party. Maya earned an undergraduate degree from New York University, a master’s degree from Regent University and a law degree from Fordham Law School.

Her love for our extended family was, well, extensive! Our Mom was an only child, and we didn’t have much of a relationship with my father’s family; but my mother’s cousins, her aunts and uncles on both sides of her family… Maya and I came to see them as if they were OUR first cousins. 

I want to speak directly now to Christian, Jordan, Evan and Alexis – your TiTi Maya loved you with an uncommon love; she would do anything for you and for our family; she was a surrogate mother for each of you and she took that role seriously, from Brooklyn to Princeton to Richmond, she was on hand as each of you were born; she has cuddled each and every one of you as if you were her own. She watched over you from up close and afar and she marveled at you; she never judged, only supported; all she has ever wanted was the best for you; God’s best and your best, for you.

KNOW that your TiTi Maya loved you – she LOVES you – with a never-ending love; and you are surrounded by love.

Once again, the question is, what should we take from this, from Maya’s love for her family? And again, I say, hold that thought. 🙂

Friends

Maya was a loyal, trustworthy friend; she valued quality over quantity. When we were kids, I wanted to be surrounded by lots of friends. Maya was comfortable with a smaller, much closer group. I remember one year at Fort Hamilton in Brooklyn, I was probably five and she was six. I invited practically the whole neighborhood and my whole kindergarten class to my birthday party. Maya had six friends over for her birthday. That’s how she was. And she taught me the value of quality friendship. 

Often, Maya would call me, text me or email me to say she was going to see so-and-so. I would say, “Oh great, when are you leaving?” She would say, “I’m on my way now!” That’s how it was for her and her friends. 

She was so thoughtful. Always casually remarking on what so and so was up to, or how so and so was doing. She kept many of your birthdays in her datebook. She celebrated YOU and YOUR lives. If you had a friend in Maya, more often than not, you had a friend for life. And as you reflect, yes, even as you question, know this: Maya loved you deeply; her smiles with all of you across the decades of her life are a testament to this fact.

And yet, once more, the question is, what should we take from this, from Maya’s love for her friends, in light of her death?

Well! I’m glad I’ve asked these pressing, rhetorical questions, on behalf of everyone here. Because I believe I have an answer… at least one that works for me.

Matthew 22: 37-39: And he said to him,
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart
and with all your soul and with all your mind.
This is the great and first commandment.
And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

I am not trying to convince you… I am seeking answers for myself. What is the meaning of this? What lessons might I learn from how Maya loved her God, her family and her friends? How do I celebrate Maya’s life, honor her death, and find deeper meaning in it all?

The answer, I believe, is first for me to love God, my Higher Power, with everything I have, to surrender completely to the will of God; to seek the truth of the universe in its vast, celestial, incomprehensible glory; to realize that the answers we seek, they aren’t in here (my head) – they are in here (my heart) and out there (all of you), and way out there (outside, the world around us, the universe).

Then, it is for me to love my neighbor as myself – which speaks to two things: those around me (family, friends, community), and me, myself. 

So, what is it to love my neighbor? What is it to love myself? What is it for those to be in balance? That is the journey for each of us to take. Individually, together.

This is A Call to Action

Maya’s life holds a richness for us to dwell on; hers was a life of love – for God, for her family and for her friends; SHE LOVED US; and she knew she was LOVED BY US. 

And as much as her life holds a richness for us, her death offers us an opportunity to reflect: to love our neighbors AS we love ourselves; we can’t forget the OURSELVES part.

So let’s talk about it: loving ourselves, and loving others who need help loving themselves.

Maya suffered from a deep depression for a very, very long time; there is no shame in that, no guilt in that; depression is a disease, and hers was severe; her pain was unbearable; she fought it until she could fight it no more.  

And, before one gets to the end stage of that disease, there is a long journey with many, many battles, and also, sometimes, opportunities for treatment – IF we can get to it early, or before it gets too severe, before it metastasizes, like a cancer.

Did you know, accordinging to the American Psychiatric Association, that one in six people will experience depression at some point in their life? That it can occur at any time, but on average, first appears during the late teens to mid-20s? That women are more likely than men to experience depression? That as many as ONE-THIRD of women will experience a major depressive episode in their lifetime?

But we don’t talk about it, not nearly enough. We’re afraid to talk about it in families, at work, in church and other faith communities, in the Black community… We make light of it. We say toughen up. We say, just pray about it. We say, it’ll be ok. We pretend that WE are OK.

Well, for it to BE ok, we must work together to MAKE it ok. 

Ok to talk about it.
Ok to seek treatment.
Ok to say I’m not ok.
Ok to ask others how they’re doing.
Ok to get in someone’s business, to get a little nosy.

Ok to say, I’m not leaving until we get you help. Because if you saw a person you knew, you loved, having a stroke in front of you, or in cardiac arrest, would you only say, “Well, it’ll be ok?” Would you say, “Well, call me if you need me.” Because that’s what I’ve said. I meant it, but I haven’t always put my love into sufficient action.

I haven’t always loved my neighbor AS myself.

Love my neighbor.
Love myself.
That’s what we need to do.

And that is Maya’s message to you, because it is the message of God, however you understand God. It is the universal calling. To love God. to love your neighbor. To love yourself. 

To love, as Maya loved.

I close with this, an excerpt from a poem I am writing about Maya, It is called “Aqua Celestial.” 

Excerpt from “Aqua Celestial”
by James Warren

I think about the sands, the waves, and the stars
I see you, I hear you, the aqua celestial
I am your brother
You are my sister
I love you forever, death is powerless
You are sun setting, waves crashing, moon shining on a new night
You have gone to them
I will stay here
God helps me
You are Maya. You are Aqua Celestial 

Thank you very much. And please don’t forget: CHECK IN ON ONE ANOTHER.

That’s how we honor Maya. We love our neighbor as ourselves.

I love you all. 

Caption: Maya’s birthday at our house. With few exceptions, we celebrated almost every birthday, holiday, Mother’s Day, etc. together.

 

What’s your story?

If you have a story you want or need to share about your or your loved one’s journey and experiences with mental health in general, depression or suicide, you can always share it here. No matter where you share it, please do it; talking and sharing are important for you and those around you, so we can empathize with one another and learn from our shared experiences.

Resources 

There are so many resources and organizations out there. These are a few I’ve come across that really resonated with me:

 

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27 Comments

  1. mee July 13, 2022

    Your expressions and sharing the take away message will help you through this difficult time, and keep beautiful memories of your sister alive.

    Reply
    1. James Warren July 13, 2022

      Thank you so much, Mee!

  2. Camille July 15, 2022

    🙏🏽 Very well written I love the way you have honored your sister. She is always with you I pray strength and healing over you your family friends. May God continue to bless you.

    Reply
    1. James Warren July 16, 2022

      Thank you so much.

  3. Linda July 15, 2022

    You are blessed to receive such a powerful revelation to give to the world!!! Love God first, family/friends and self! I don’t know you but, “Thanks” my friend for such a powerful message in honoring you beloved sister!!

    Reply
    1. James Warren July 16, 2022

      Thank you!

  4. Nikki July 15, 2022

    Wow how powerful this message is. Thank you for this message. For our God is real. In real time. James thanks for sharing this message. It is amazing and give Hope.

    Reply
    1. James Warren July 16, 2022

      Thank you!

  5. Uche July 16, 2022

    Thank you for loving your sister-Maya.
    Family is everything and I can feel the bond.

    Reply
    1. James Warren July 16, 2022

      Thank you very much.

  6. Meme July 16, 2022

    Hi James,

    Thank you for sharing your heart and family. Deepest condolences to you and yours. May your Sister’s life and big heart be an inspiration coupled with the strength to surrender to get the help needed for the next day. As a women of Faith, I believe God’s mercies are new daily and sometimes it comes through the most uncommon circumstances and unexpected persons to bring us Hope to Heal our life and the lives of others.

    Continue the healing process …it’s ok.

    Reply
    1. James Warren July 16, 2022

      Thank you very much!

  7. Margaret July 17, 2022

    Your description of your sis and your mutual love is so profound. Your kinship / friendship implies that you have held her hand and she yours throughout life’s journey. No doubt the Lover of our souls embrace is what she most need. Walk faithfully my brother… it is well, it is well!! Until you meet her again.

    Reply
    1. James Warren July 17, 2022

      Thank you!

  8. Bea Mitchell July 17, 2022

    Hello James,

    Wow, I didn’t expect to keep reading your story, but I couldn’t turn away. Maya’s beautiful smile reminded me of me, my daughter’s, my sister, and how much we need each other.

    My condolences go out to you, your family, and her friends. Thank you for sharing such a powerful and thoughtful message that may save me, or someone I love.

    May you always see your mom and sister’s footprints every step you take. God makes no mistake of the 👣 he leaves here for now. We all have work to do.

    Reply
    1. James Warren July 17, 2022

      Thank you very much.

  9. Rameeka Bell July 17, 2022

    Thank you for being strong and transparent to share those memories of Maya’s life. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.

    Reply
    1. James Warren July 17, 2022

      Thank you!

  10. Jamie J. July 18, 2022

    I clicked through from your LinkedIn post that a mutual friend commented on. I lost my husband in 2020 to suicide. It is a club you never want to join but one where I have learned quite a lot about myself and about others. Sending you whatever comfort you need in this time. I will say nearly 2 years later I still wonder, I still ask why but I do try really hard to trust in my God that my son and I will be taken care of, that all of this is not for nothing, that we will be stronger because of this. Hoping the same for you.

    Reply
    1. James Warren July 18, 2022

      Thank you so very much. I empathize with you, too. ❤️

  11. Jeff Conley July 18, 2022

    James you truly are a GIANT. I know you from our professional affiliation as colleagues and as a friend. I am honored to have heard a few Sister stories from you as well as Mama stories. Please know that we are indeed a village and not one of us can replace what has been “lost” to you, however from this moment forward know that you have a Big Brother Jeff who is here clebrating & cheering you on, praying your peace and checking in to ensure that “u good?”

    Reply
    1. James Warren July 18, 2022

      Thank you so much, my friend. I just hope sharing Maya’s story can help increase awareness. I appreciate you checking in on me.

  12. Joe DINapoli July 19, 2022

    Very inspirational .Thank You and GOD bless you and your Family

    Reply
    1. James Warren July 19, 2022

      Thank you.

  13. Kathy Grogan July 21, 2022

    It has been a while since I’ve seen your name, but remember you from our days at Altria.

    What a beautiful tribute to your sister. I have too just recently lost a loved one to suicide, and what I can understand during this time is my love for God, family and friends. Thank you for sharing Maya’s story with this world …. We are in this world, but not of this world …. and hopefully others can understand that God is the only answer. May you and your family be blessed.

    Reply
    1. James Warren July 21, 2022

      Thank you so much, Kathy. It’s great to hear from you, though I’m so sorry to hear of your loss, too. My condolences to you. Yes, we will continue to share their stories.

  14. Rebecca Rodriguez January 30, 2024

    I remember from the days of Times Square Church. Your mom was such a beacon of light for me – a child, reeling from a home crisis situation. I found inspiration, respite, hope, and light through music from my days at the TSC choir. I know those came from God, but your mom was such a beautiful channel wherein these things reached me when very little else could. Those experiences were so powerful they bring me light to the present day, over 30 years later.

    From time to time I check online to see where they are now. I bought the book your mom wrote a few months ago. And I searched for your sister, wondering what her life may be like now, and saw this post. I buried my sibling (a brother) in 2022. I know this pain well. And it becomes so very important to remember their light and how their energies impacted us. I feel its our way of bringing them into the present for a bit. I remember her smile, I remember her humor (dry and witty, if I recall correctly), her bright red coat, and her grace. I mourn her time here is done but I rejoice in the fact that she was here, she was a wonder, and that is who I will see in my mind and in my heart.

    Thank you for your beautiful words. May you continue to find Grace in them, and comfort.

    Reply

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