Celebrating Momma: Shirley Diane Carlisle Fisher

Every March, when the world starts waking up again — when the air softens and the light stretches a little longer — I find myself thinking of my mother. She was born in March of 1939, in Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina, and she carried that early‑spring energy with her all her life: steady, hopeful, stubborn in the best way, and always ready to bloom again no matter what winter had thrown at her.

Momma — Shirley Diane Carlisle Fisher — lived a life stitched together with grit, humor, and a kind of love that didn’t ask for attention but quietly held everyone up.

She grew up in and around Roanoke Rapids, graduated from William R. Davie High School in 1958, and by the next year she had met and married the love of her life, my daddy, Horace Ray Fisher Sr. Together they built a family: me, Craig, and Michael. And like so many women of her generation, she worked hard — really hard — weaving at J.P. Stevens until she retired in 1991 after Daddy passed. That job wasn’t glamorous, but she did it with pride, because it helped build the life she wanted for us.

And then, in one of the bravest chapters of her story, she and my dad adopted her first two grandchildren, Lacey and Josh, and raised them as a single parent after dad passed away. She didn’t hesitate. She didn’t complain. She just opened her arms and did what needed to be done. That was Momma in a nutshell: love first, questions later.

She loved her family fiercely — her children, her grandchildren, her sisters Sandra and Doris, her brothers James, Danny and Butch, and the whole Carlisle‑Fisher constellation of nieces, nephews, cousins, and lifelong friends. If you were hers, you were hers. And if you weren’t hers yet, she’d probably feed you until you were.

And let me tell you: Momma loved a cruise. Mexico, Hawaii — if there was a ship, a buffet, and a deck chair with her name on it, she was ready. She worked hard her whole life, and when she finally got the chance to travel, she embraced it with the joy of someone who knew she had earned every minute.

For more than 40 years, she was part of the Harvest Temple Pentecostal Holiness Church, and that church family was woven into her heart. She sang, she served, she prayed, she laughed — and she loved those people deeply. They were her community, her anchor, and often her joy.

But the person who walked beside her most closely in her later years was her sister Sandra, her caregiver, her confidante, and her best friend. Their bond was something beautiful — the kind of sisterhood that feels like a lifelong duet.

When I think of Momma now, I don’t think about the day she left us. I think about the way she lived:

• The way she’d laugh with her whole face.

• The way she’d tell you exactly what she thought — whether you asked or not.

• The way she loved her children and grandchildren with a devotion that could move mountains.

• The way she held our family together through losses, storms, and seasons of rebuilding.

• The way she found joy, even after heartbreak.

• The way she kept choosing life — again and again.

I think about her hands, always busy.

Her voice, always warm. Her laugh, always infectious.

Her heart, always open.

And I think about how lucky we were — how lucky I was — to be her son. I think about the nights we'd talk for hours on the phone telling her my deepest problems; the night I told her I was gay and she said, "Yes, I know. I was waiting on you to tell me."

Momma lived a full, complicated, beautiful life. She loved deeply, worked tirelessly, and gave generously. And even now, years later, her legacy is still unfolding in the lives of her children, her grandchildren, great-grandchildren, her remaining siblings, and everyone who ever felt the comfort of her presence.

Every March, I celebrate her.

Not her absence — her life.

Her laughter.

Her strength.

Her stubbornness.

Her tenderness.

Her faith.

Her love.

Happy birthday, Momma.

Thank you for everything you poured into this world.

We’re still carrying it.

We always will.

Dust, Distance, and the Wisdom of Impermanence

This Lent carries a weight I didn’t expect.

On Ash Wednesday—while Christians around the world heard the ancient words “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return”—a dear friend of mine returned to God. Her name was Barbara. She and her husband, Jerry, were among the first people to welcome me into Loomis First United Methodist Church back in 2013. For thirteen years, they have been woven into my story with a kind of steady, unassuming grace.

From what I understand, Barbara became ill on Monday, February 16, and by February 18 she was gone. The swiftness of it still feels unreal.

When I think back on my years in Loomis, I remember how she and Jerry held me with tenderness. They celebrated James and my tenth wedding anniversary. They stood with us at our vow renewal in 2018. They showed up—not just for the milestones, but for the quiet, ordinary moments that make a life feel rooted.

Now, living here in Washington, I feel the ache of distance more sharply than ever. I’ll travel back for her memorial service when it’s scheduled, but right now it’s hard to feel helpful or supportive from so far away. I know Jerry is grieving. I know the church family is grieving. And I feel disconnected from the people who once held me so closely.

Lent has always been a season of reflection, repentance, and returning. In the United Methodist tradition, it’s a time to slow down and look honestly at our lives—our fragility, our limits, our need for grace. We remember that life is finite and yet deeply sacred. We remember that Jesus walked willingly into the wilderness, into suffering, into death itself, not to glorify pain but to transform it.

But this year, Lent is asking something deeper of me.

Barbara’s passing has pulled my attention toward my own mortality—not in a fearful way, but in a clarifying one. And interestingly, the wisdom traditions outside Christianity echo the same invitation.

Buddhist teachers speak of anicca—impermanence—as the truth that makes every moment precious.

Hindu philosophy describes death as a doorway, a transition of the soul rather than an ending.

Indigenous traditions often speak of ancestors walking with us, reminding us that the boundary between here and beyond is thinner than we imagine.

Even secular mindfulness practices teach that noticing our breath, our aging bodies, our changing lives is a way of waking up to what matters.

Different languages, different metaphors—yet all pointing toward the same truth:

Life is brief.

Love is urgent.

Presence is sacred.

The ashes on our foreheads are not meant to shame us; they are meant to wake us. They remind us that our days are numbered, and therefore infinitely valuable. They remind us that community is a gift, not a guarantee. They remind us that the people who shape us—like Barbara—are part of the great tapestry of grace that holds us all.

United Methodists talk often about grace—prevenient, justifying, sanctifying. Grace that goes before us, meets us, shapes us. As I sit with Barbara’s memory, I realize how much of God’s grace came to me through her life. Through her welcome. Through her presence. Through her quiet, steady faithfulness.

And maybe that’s the invitation of this Lent:

to honor the people who have carried us,

to bless the ones who have returned to the Mystery,

and to live the days we have left with intention and tenderness.

I don’t know what the rest of this season will hold. But I do know this: Barbara’s life was a blessing. Her death has become a teacher. And even in grief, grace is still moving—across traditions, across distances, across the fragile, beautiful span of a human life.

Dust to dust.

Love to love.

Grace upon grace.

Our precious gem - Norbu

Our dogs have been such an important part of our life together. Norbu was the first dog that James and I adopted together.

Norbu, whose name means “wish-fulfilling gem” in Tibetan, was chosen by my husband for its special significance. Norbu joined our family on August 28, 2010, estimated to be between one and two years old at the time. His early life was marked by trauma—he spent time on the streets and was labeled “un-adoptable” by the pound due to his fearfulness and tendency to bite. Despite this, we found him at a rescue center in Elk Grove, and from the very first day, he formed a strong bond with us. He and his new sister, Willow, became inseparable, and Norbu’s gentle nature won our hearts, quirks and all.

On November 28, 2018, Norbu experienced his first seizure, which soon escalated to frequent, intense episodes—sometimes as many as eight to ten within half an hour. After two years of dedicated care, we managed to control his seizures, and he remained seizure-free for over eighteen months. In November 2020, Norbu faced a serious bout of pancreatitis, and we feared for his life.

A month after Willow passed away from liver cancer in September 2021, Norbu was diagnosed with a heart murmur and an enlarged heart. The prognosis was grim, but we responded with determination: strict diets, costly medications, and special food kept him vibrant and happy.

Everything changed on March 29, 2024, when Norbu’s lungs began filling with fluid and he started coughing up pinkish phlegm. Despite his resilience, by noon the next day, it was clear his suffering had become too great—his kidneys were failing, and his breathing was labored. He remained on oxygen, and James and I were able to be with him during his final moments.

Norbu’s absence is deeply felt. As he slipped away, I whispered for him to find Willow, so they could play together once more. In my heart, I believe they are reunited.

Rest peacefully, dear Norbu. We miss him terribly.

For Michael - Happy Heavenly Birthday

I was nine and a half years old when my baby brother came barreling into my life — though “barreling” might be generous, because in late summer of 1969, when Momma and Daddy told Craig and me we were getting a new brother or sister, I was not thrilled. Not even a little. We had finally moved into a house where Craig and I each had our own bedrooms, our own space, our own little kingdoms. And now here came this baby, threatening to upset the delicate balance of everything I held dear.

But then Christmas rolled around, and Momma let me feel the baby kick for the first time. Something shifted in me. Suddenly this wasn’t just “the baby.” This was a tiny person doing somersaults under Momma’s skin, and I was enchanted. And convinced — absolutely convinced — that I was getting a baby sister out of the deal. I had already named her in my head. I was ready.

On February 12th, 1970, a family member showed up at school to pick Craig and me up early. When we got home, Daddy told us we had a new baby brother.

A brother.

Named Michael Anthony Fisher.

I was crushed. I didn’t even care to meet him that day. I had been promised a sister by the universe, and the universe had failed spectacularly.

But then I saw him.

And just like that, disappointment didn’t stand a chance. I fell head over heels for that baby boy. I bottle‑fed him. I changed his cloth diapers — which should qualify me for some kind of medal. I carried him around the house like he was my own personal responsibility. I couldn’t get enough of him.

For years, we joked about how I never got over not getting my baby sister. And Michael, with that dry wit of his, would always say, “Ray, you already filled the role of princess in the family. There wasn’t room for another one.” He wasn’t wrong.

Today, I celebrate his legacy — the boy I adored, the man he became, the brother who made my life bigger, softer, and funnier.

He died on October 8th, 2020 from liver cancer. I miss him every day. And as much as it aches, I can’t help but feel a little jealous that he got to see Momma and Daddy before I did. I imagine the reunion was something beautiful.

Until it’s my turn, I carry him with me — in memory, in laughter, in the stories that still make me smile. My brother. My almost‑baby‑sister. My Michael.