Kash Memphis - Rapper and Dreamer

Everret Maxine’s story is one of heartache, but it isn’t one of defeat. Everret is using the struggles and hurdles of her life to walk alongside others who are facing their own pain and hurt. Today we’ll hear how her life of loss has helped her to become an agent of healing. She believes that being a survivor carries responsibility and an opportunity to serve others. She uses her podcast the absence of her to share her life story, and the lessons she has learned as a way of helping others through their own dark times.

https://www.spreaker.com/user/theabsenceofher

https://www.facebook.com/IAmEverretMaxine

https://twitter.com/everretmaxine

https://www.instagram.com/iameverretmaxine

(This transcript is intended as a guide only. It may not be 100% correct.)

Emily Olsen

Wherever there are shadows, there are people ready to kick out the darkness until it bleeds daylight. This is Bleeding Daylight with your host Rodney Olsen.

Rodney Olsen

Everret Maxine’s story is one of heartache but it isn’t one of defeat. Everret is using the struggles and hurdles of her life to walk alongside others who are facing their own pain and hurt. Today we’ll hear how her life of loss has helped her to become an agent of healing.

Please remember to share this story with others and connect with Bleeding Daylight on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. You can follow Bleeding Daylight wherever you listen to podcasts. It's free and it'll ensure you never miss an episode.

Everret Maxine Johnson has seen more than her fair share of heartache but she's now sharing the lessons that trauma and difficulty had taught her to help others. She believes that being a survivor carries responsibility and an opportunity to serve others. She uses her podcast the absence of her to share her life story, and the lessons she has learned as a way of helping others through their own dark times. It's my privilege to introduce you to her today, Everret, welcome to Bleeding Daylight.

Everret Maxine

Good morning. Good morning.

Rodney Olsen

Your story is one of loss in various ways and your first great loss began at a very young age, at just 10, help me understand what was happening for you at that time.

Everret Maxine

Well, at 10, my mother and I were still living with my grandmother, my maternal grandmother, and her sister lived there as well. That was my great aunt. And me and my great aunt Lv, we were inseparable. She would create little games for me to play. And she was a lot older than I was when she passed, I think she was about 70. So she was like, it was like a 60 year difference, but we would play in the yard together, we would, we would just do all kinds of things together. And so when she passed, it was really hard for me. She went through two types of cancer and the last time she had, I believe it was a tumor in the stomach because she had two different things back to back and we had went to Astroworld, which was the theme park here in Texas. And I was having such a nice time. And I'm on a ride with my friend. And mind you I'm a 10 year old kid. And I look at my friend and it's not my friend. It's my aunt Lv sitting next to me, waving goodbye. I was just stunned, like what just happened. So I get back to my aunt Odessa's house. And we're there. And my uncle called to say that my great aunt surgery went fine. And he had left a message on the voicemail. And shortly after that, he called and said, she passed away. I beat my fist into the floor. I cried all night, I cried for days. Because here I was 10 years old, I didn't understand. And me and my friend had made her a welcome home sign. And I was so excited because I didn't understand death. You know, when you're a kid, you think everybody is immortal. And so that was really hard for me to understand.

Rodney Olsen

So even before her passing, she was going through a very serious illness with the cancer. What was that like for you as a child, seeing someone that you loved going through that difficulty?

Everret Maxine

Once she started going through, it was hard for me because she couldn't do the things that she used to do. And then she was relocated out of my grandmother's home to the nursing home, my mom worked back. Even though she was ill, I couldn't really tell other than her being in the nursing home until they had to shave her hair off for a surgery. And I believe that was the second surgery. And it was seeing her hair shaved off, her beautiful hair got gray hair gone. And she just didn't look like the same person. Now she looked like a sick woman. In my mind, I still thought that hey, this was my playmate, my great aunt, my frie...