Fraternity honors member's mother

It wasn't the kind of day Cheryl Coverdale likes to spend indoors. A warm breeze blew, birds sang and signs of spring were everywhere.\nSaturday was the kind of day Coverdale, 47, would have liked to spend gardening. Instead, she was sharing her dying wish at a gathering organized by her son and his best friend at Delta Chi fraternity, 1100 N. Jordan Ave.\nCoverdale has terminal brain cancer. Her son, freshman Ayron Gabbert, his friend freshman Sekou Kante and other members of Delta Chi fraternity raised enough money to send Coverdale to St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. She had always wanted to go to the beach but had never gone, Gabbert said.\nAyron Gabbert was told Friday his mother is now too sick to make the trip.\nSaturday, family, friends, Delta Chi members and members of Delta Gamma sorority attended a cookout luncheon and awards presentation for Coverdale. At the emotional celebration, poetry was read and songs were sung. Several members of the basketball team attended; junior guard Tom Coverdale is Gabbert's cousin by marriage.\nBecause they couldn't honor Coverdale's dream, Kante, Gabbert and Delta Chi presented her with a check for $500 to cover medical expenses and created a foundation in her name to honor the last wishes of adults with terminal disease.\n"The wish she didn't get will carry on and help someone else," Gabbert said.\nA plaque with blank spaces for future recipients was unveiled at the luncheon.\nA family friend read a proclamation from Bloomington Mayor John Fernandez that named April 7, 2001 Cheryl Coverdale Day.\nShe was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 1999, in the fall of Gabbert's senior year in high school, he said. The cancer went into remission.\nReturning from a trip to the Bahamas during winter break, Gabbert shared pictures of white sand on pristine beaches with his mother. That's when she decided she wanted to spend time on the beach, he said.\nGabbert said his mom's cancer reappeared a month later. This time, it was more serious.\nAround Coverdale's hospital room, Gabbert put up pictures of the beach. Nurses said she dreamed of the beach, and Gabbert said she woke up believing she was sitting on the sand.\n"She knows when she passes away she'll be sitting on the beach," Gabbert said.\nAs an "old hippie," Coverdale said her dying wish is for her son's generation to take better care of the environment than hers did.\n"I challenge them to clean up the Earth I spent my whole career getting cleaned up," Coverdale said.\nShe said she is proud of her son, her daughter Lyndall, who also attended the celebration, and the "20 or 30 kids who call me 'Mom.'"\nRev. David Woodcock of the First Assembly Church of God, who said prayers at the event, said the day was an admirable accomplishment.\n"I'm glad to see the young people of this campus getting involved in the lives of someone other than their own," Woodcock said.\nDelta Chi President Jeff Chandler, a junior, said the celebration affected a lot of people.\n"Last summer, I lost my mom," Chandler said. "This is a good time to remember -- it should be a joyous occasion."\nGabbert said he will always remember working with his mother in gardens all over the city, camping and boating together on Lake Monroe and the pets that were always around.\nThe family volunteered to train a golden retriever to help a person in a wheelchair, Gabbert said. Coverdale got attached to it but had to give it up. Soon after, the company called them back to say the dog had a hip problem.\nCoverdale and her dog Bert are still inseparable, Gabbert said. Bert visits her in the nursing home, he said.\nSaturday, Coverdale struggled to hear as her son spoke at the ceremony.\n"Thank you for loving me and being there when I needed you," Gabbert said.\nGabbert said friends and family, especially his fraternity brothers, have helped him through the experience.\n "It's hard knowing its going to happen, but its good because you can prepare for it," Gabbert said.\n Kante said he remembers the first time he met Coverdale. She slapped his hand away when he attempted to shake hers and gave him a hug and kiss on the cheek, Kante said.\n He and Gabbert have been friends and classmates since middle school in Bloomington. Kante said he was happy to give his time to his best friend's mom to try to help her realize her dream and ensure her memory lives on.\n"People wait till it's too late to do something ... to say I love you," Kante said.\nTo donate to the Delta Chi Cheryl Coverdale Foundation, call Sekou Kante at 327-2154, Kurt Caldwell at 337-9180 or e-mail skante@indiana.edu.