Cherise Titus Death, Obituary – Herise was the ecstatic mother of three spirited daughters and seven grandkids, all of whom occupied a central place in her life. I cannot fathom how painful it must be for them. When they were in school together, Baraka, who is now Cherise’s husband, was one of her closest friends, and he often accompanied her on her walk home from school. After a period of time apart, they got back in touch and eventually fell in love. Both she and Baraka were devoted fans of the role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons.
Cherise let it slip that she adored each and every Molly Ringwald film from the 1980s and that, when she was younger, she wanted she could be Molly. When I first met Cherise in 2019, she had come to me as a student. After that, she continued to work with me as her life coach as she started to discover herself, explore her independence, and set goals to start her own business, conquer her fears and anxiety, and develop her passions for supporting others and making the community a better place.
She would chuckle and explain that she would get there in the end, but that there were times when she had to put her own plans on hold in order to assist other people in achieving their objectives. She went through struggles, traumatic experiences, and tests that no human being should have to go through, yet she was able to keep a fierce faith that people were basically decent, that the world could be fair, and that hope was something that should be treasured. I admired and appreciated the qualities that she possessed, and we have high hopes that we will be able to retain them in myself.
When we began working on her goals together, she would say things like “Someday, I want to…” If “Someday” appeared on her calendar, I would have to ask her where she got it because I didn’t have it on mine. She first laughed, then became serious, and finally started putting in a lot of effort to turn her aspirations into realities. She was determined to get over her anxiety about driving, and over the course of the previous few months, she had been working on overcoming that anxiety and had started driving by herself.
She expressed interest in traveling to Jamaica. Only a year ago, she carried out those actions. She had always dreamed of becoming her own boss and using her talents in a field that she was passionate about. As a multi-entrepreneur, she carried out the activity multiple times. It was important to her to help other women who had experienced the same kinds of challenges that she had in their lives. Through her work at the Center for Community Alternatives, The Cuse Center, and the Sister-Sister program, she did that each and every day. Her decision to become a member of the Zonta Club of Syracuse was an accomplishment for her since she knew it would allow her to assist a greater number of individuals.