Bitter-sweet Moment: Kierra Sheard celebrates No. 1 album and mourns loss of 84-year-old ‘Nanna’ to COVID-19
Article By Bridgette Helms // EEW Magazine News // COVID-19
GRAMMY® and Stellar Award-winning gospel singer Kierra Sheard’s new release, KIERRA, is No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Gospel Albums chart, No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Christian/Gospel Albums chart, and No. 2 on Billboard’s Top 200 Christian & Gospel Consumption chart.
And while the “Something Has To Break” songstress is over the moon about the success of her sixth studio album, the loss of her paternal grandmother, Willie Mae Sheard, to COVID-19 complications, has put a bit of a damper on her joy.
In a Monday Instagram post, the 32-year-old actress and entrepreneur who played her mother, Karen Clark Sheard, in the hit Lifetime biopic, The Clark Sisters: The First Ladies of Gospel, which premiered on April 11th to 2.7 million viewers, wrote, “God is faithful. Bitter sweet moment. I just wish I could tell my Nanna!”
Willie Mae Sheard died Sunday, April 19th, while her husband, Bishop John H. Sheard, pastor of Greater Mitchell Temple Church of God in Christ, is recovering from Coronavirus.
In an earlier Instagram post, the grieving granddaughter opened up about the painful loss in an open letter to her late grandmother. “Either I’m crying or I’m sleep (unless I’m around loved ones) hoping I’d see you there,” she said.
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However, despite the pain, Sheard is clinging to her faith and adopting a spiritual perspective on death and loss. “As believers, to be absent from the body and present with the Lord is the ultimate goal,” she said. “This heaven bound understanding walks us through something so painful with such peace. We prayed and prayed and asked God to heal you, but I’m led to believe that you were ready to tap out of this earthen life.”
Sizzling new gospel album KIERRA tops Billboard
Sheard continued, “I’ve been challenged to not be selfish but to be selfless and accept God allowing your promised rest. So, I’m still trusting God and seeing that He gave you the years promised (Psalm 90:10) and 14 more years of life with us. But if I reflect on the good things, you lived a good life. What makes it hard, is having to grasp the fact that I won’t see you anymore; until we meet again.”
“My mother loved people,” said Bishop J. Drew Sheard, pastor of Greater Emmanuel Institutional Church of God in Christ n Detroit, son of Willie Mae Sheard, and father of Kierra Sheard. “She was always extending herself. She was a great leader in the church, but she shied away from the spotlight. She’d do the work, but didn’t have to get the credit.”
At the time of writing, there have been a total of 56,308 Coronavirus deaths and 1 million confirmed cases in the US. Most people who fall sick with COVID-19 will experience mild to moderate symptoms and recover without special treatment. But the elderly and those with preexisting medical conditions are most vulnerable and at greater risk of complications and death.
The entire team at EEW Magazine Online is praying for the family.
