I will miss you always, my dear sister. My heart has been left broken since the day you had to go and the memories I treasure dearly are in the tears that still flow. We were both born to the same great matriarch, Joana Bennett (Yaa Twenewaa) of blessed memory but my dear sister became my mother and I, her first daughter. It all started when I was sent to live with my sisters in Accra at six years old. I was then enrolled at Datus boarding school but this loving and courageous sister and ambitious woman whose remains lie before us today, picked me up from my sister Gladys, to live with her at Burma Camp. She became more of a mother to me than just a sister. I entered her life at a time when she had no children. Married to the late Lieutenant Colonel Johnson, she took me out of Datus and enrolled me in Kotoka Primary. Some of the most memorable and joyful moments of my younger years were at Burma Camp. She knew how to make dresses, and I was always her top model in some of the designs she created. Her wonderful outfits allowed me to steal the show at the officers’ children’s parties which were held at weekends in those days. The officers would quiz me about the origin of my outfits. Such was how she made me feel special, like a true “Dada Ba”. Aunt Cee was very generous and would often buy gifts for me to give to my friends on their birthdays. Our visits to Kingsway still linger in my mind. She was a frequent visitor at St. Mary’s Secondary, when I started my secondary education. She never relented in the role she had acquired in my life and stood by me through my early years of marriage. She was there for my children and indeed I gave birth to all of them in her home, and like every mother, Aunt Cee was there for me. Many of my schoolmates thought she was my mother. She fought my silent battles, was my confidant, my defender, my everything. When I thought a task was too difficult to face, Aunt Cee showed up to encourage me. She graced events at Kiddies Paradise PreSchool and Solomon Bennett Memorial School, offering support and wise counsel. Akua Pokuaa, there is a new addition to our school, the Cambridge International School at Solomon Bennett Memorial School. Aunt Cee, it is so sad that you will not be here to grace their programs. Undoubtedly, I was a special part of your life, but today, you remain quiet and motionless. Oh, death! We cannot question God. Thank you for all you did for me and for everyone fortunate enough to have crossed paths with you. You are in my thoughts every day and that is how it will always be. I will miss you deeply, Aunt Cee. Adieu, my lovely sister turned mother. From Grace Sheila Bennett SISTER “The reality is that you will grieve forever. You will not ‘get over’ the loss of a loved one; you will learn to live with it. You will heal, and you will rebuild yourself around the loss you have suffered. You will never be the same. Nor should you be the same, nor would you want to be.”……. Elisabeth Kubler - Ross T R I B U T E 1 1946 MRS. CECILIA JOHNSON 2025 38 A Loving Farewell
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