Celebrating the reach of one – gone too soon

ELIZABETHTOWN – He told a tale of a very incredible and talented woman who would no doubt, change the face of the world that was looking back at her.

He grew quiet as he held her stethoscope that would no longer speak to her in whispers and give her the clues to healing a soul in turmoil.

India Alexus McLaurin laid her medical instruments and her career down Aug. 25, 2023 and would never pick them up again.

Maurice Williams a 1982 East Bladen High School graduate, known to her as “Poppy” would pick up and carry her vision – continuing her work from the grave and celebrating and helping those who have the same heart to minister and administer healing to a wounded world.

This coming Saturday Williams will be front and center at his Elizabethtown business, the Ballroom at Whimsical Florist & Gifts as he brings to life India’s heart for the nursing profession.

Whimsical Florist is the passion of senior designer and owner Maurice Williams. He has two decades of experience in the floral and event industry. Maurice founded the company back in 2009. His company specializes in creating flower arrangements with a focus on individual attention to detail.

Williams is presenting the second annual nursing scholarship foundation that will honor McLaurin’s almost 30 years on this earth by providing $30K in scholarships to nurses who were chosen to best represent the vision that McLaurin had while she was alive. Ten nurses will be chosen who will really exemplify her spirit.

“It will be 10 scholarships,” Williams said. “Two at $5k and 8 at $2500. The scholarships were awarded based on GPA, letters of recommendation and looked over all the applicants and chose the best that would qualify. Some of the applicants went to BCC, one is going to ECU and so we didn’t narrow it down to one institution. It’s the best feeling to give out things like the stethoscopes and the scholarships. When she passed, her mom and I just felt that we had to do something. This year those who could benefit could be new students or existing students.”

Their reach will undoubtedly go beyond what can be seen by the human eye as you consider educations made possible for nurses that will go into the world and change lives and save lives because of that passion to be a nurse.

All the money for the scholarships has not been donated, but Williams said that by the night of the gala when the scholarships are handed out, it will be there.

“We’re still raising money,” Williams said. “One way or the other we’ll get it. Once people started buying the gala tickets, the money started coming in. I also have letters to take out to different businesses and if I have to go take out a loan to make up the difference, I will.”

It is called the “India Alexus McLaurin Gala” and the celebration will begin (Sept. 13) at 6 p.m. at 314 South Poplar St. in Elizabethtown. The tickets for the gala are $65 and formal attire is requested. To purchase tickets or to donate to this cause, you can call Whimsical Florist at (910) 872-9931. All proceeds support the India Alexus McLaurin Nursing Scholarship Foundation.

McLaurin was born Sept. 15, 1995 to Demetrius McLaurin and Joi Kirk in Fayetteville, North Carolina.

At Atrium Health Steele Creek Emergency Department in Charlotte, North Carolina, Aug. 26, 2023 she died unexpectedly from a blood clot in her lung. She was 20 days shy of her 28^th birthday and three months away from graduation from Central Piedmont Community College’s nursing program.

She would not be there for the sacred act of the pinning. She would not be there to walk across the stage. She would not be there to tell the stories of the long nights of study and the camaraderie that held things together with her fellow graduates.

She was scheduled to be at the hospital that fateful day, but it was not as any would have expected – and instead of working, she would go through her final door.

To take a child to the grave is a brutal chapter in the life of parents that have to go through it, and after two years, the tears continue to come for Williams.

On the day that it happened, McLaurin was sailing toward a lucrative nursing career with graduation in sight and a job offer that would provide a safe harbor for her to continue her work.

“I was at work that day and Joi called,” he said. “I could tell in her voice that something was wrong. She kept saying, ‘Maurice… my baby… my baby… they say she’s brain-dead.’ She was just screaming and crying telling me that I had to come to Charlotte.”

As he scrambled to get some things from home, and was fielding phone calls from the family, he got the call telling him that she had passed. The two-and-a-half-hour drive to Charlotte was fraught with questions, tears, despair and fear.

“At one point we were on a three-way call with the doctor,” he said. “The doctor said, ‘Take your time, she’s going to be here at the hospital where you can see her. I get there before her dad (Demetrius). I told them I was there to see India and they said that she was down the hall. I go to the room and nobody’s there.”

They then informed Williams that her body had already been transferred to the morgue at the larger hospital.

“About that time, Demetrius came,” Williams said. “So, then we went to the larger hospital and all we could do was see her through a window. It was the worst. The worst.”

He has kept the final texts and words of McLaurin for these past two years. Williams had not talked with McLaurin for a few days and the last text he sent to her was Aug. 13 and the text was accompanied with pictures of his grandson Karsin’s birthday party and she sent me some pictures of her wedding day as she was also a new bride, having been recently wed to Tommy Holt.

Her text and final words to him were, “Happy Birthday Poppy, I love you. School just started back so I am getting back into the swing of things. I am at the hospital for clinicals today.”

India was a 2013 graduate of Jack Britt High School in Fayetteville. She attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and furthered her education in the nursing program at Central Piedmont Community College in Charlotte. India was scheduled to receive her nursing pin Dec. 13, 2023, and receive a conditional job offer at Atrium Health Medical Center in the surgical and medical unit as a registered nurse. While attending college, India worked with Walgreens and became a Senior pharmacy technician in 2017.

After her passing, Williams felt that there had to be a legacy that would not only remember the spirit of love and determination that McLaurin had while she was alive, but something that would continue her reach to her corner of the world. Through this reach, it was also helping Williams heal and deal with the pain.

He went to Bladen Community College and centered in on the nursing program there and began to bless the nursing students.

“I went to BCC and talked to the nursing students,” Williams said. “We gave out, on India’s birthday, to the nursing class bud vases with roses in them in honor of her birthday. After that, any kind of occasion, holiday, or whatever we would fix little gift bags for this one particular nursing class. For the first day of class it might have been a nursing survival kit which was really cute and we sort of adopted that class. We have been doing things for them for the past two years. They graduated this past May and the foundation bought 28 stethoscopes and at their pinning I had the pleasure of putting a stethoscope around each one of their necks.”

That wasn’t in honor of McLaurin’s 28^th birthday which she never got to celebrate here on earth, but the parallels were interesting.

India’s pastimes were baking, exercising and babysitting. She loved helping others, was highly motivated and always a loyal friend. She truly wore her heart on her sleeve and would give someone all that she had.

For Williams, the story began years earlier as he began a relationship with India’s grandmother, Mary Hall. Although that relationship didn’t pan out, Williams treated Hall’s daughter Joi as his own daughter and then when she gave birth to India, a strong bond was created. From that point, he would forever be remembered to her as “Poppy.”

Although McLaurin wasn’t his biological child, Williams said that he was like a father to her as she grew up. Williams has two biological daughters and now a biological grandson. That story will continue in the weeks to follow as we continue this story.

“I still can’t believe it,” he said. “There is still not a day or a minute that I won’t think about it. I really don’t see how people survive this. I know I’m not her biological, but you can’t tell me that.”

He puts his head in his hands as he reflects on the finality of life without hearing her voice, receiving a text, celebrations of birthdays and holidays. Add the mixture of a short life with a million memories and with tears, said, “There are just no words.”

He feels that he is now doing things that she would have wanted him to do and he said, “It’s helping me heal a bit. Some people pass away and you never hear their name mentioned. It’s like they’re really gone. Gone. But now if I go in and type in ‘India McLaurin,’ the scholarship is going to pop up or something about her is going to pop up.”

Williams pens this message to his beloved India.

India My Princess

You had a beautiful soul and a heart of gold, a heart so full of love, love for everyone. You were beautiful inside and out, so humble and kind and it was so easy to spoil you. I often think of you when you were very small you left fingerprints on all of the walls. What a joy you brought into my life. Seeing you crawl, taking your first steps and of course hearing you say, “Poppy” for the first time. What a beautiful lady you grew up to be! You made me proud! I hope you see my little princess you will always be.

Love You, Poppy.

India was preceded in death by her brother, Justin McLaurin, her nana, Mary “Linda” Hall, her grandmother, Katie Williams, three grandfathers, John Kirk, Johnny “Buddy” McLaurin and Jimmy Williams.

Left to cherish her memories: her husband: Tommy Holt; mother Joi Kirk of Charlotte; father: Demetrius (Felecia) McLaurin of Elizabethtown; godparents: Robert and Danille McKoy of Fayetteville; sisters at heart: Albanie and Karina Williams of Elizabethtown; her siblings: Ebony, Rashad, Tyrell, Michael and Korea; grandmother: Anne McLaurin of Bladenboro, North Carolina; aunts: Gwen, Amy, Michelle, Ursula, Susan and Conza; uncles: Andre’ Clayton and Eric; special cousin: Nyemah McLaurin and a host of nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles, cousins, other relatives and friends. And of course, her beloved “Poppy,” Maurice Williams