Frannie's eSpace

Searching for Eternity

I just finished a very good book: Searching for Eternity by Elizabeth Musser. (You may have read her other books, both set in Atlanta: The Swan House and The Dwelling Place.) This one is set both in France as well as Atlanta, and it begins in the mid 1960's. A French boy, Emile, is swept from his beloved home in Lyon to Atlanta under very mysterious reasons. He doesn't know where his father is, and his mother is very protective but not very talkative.

Of course, by the end of the book, you know exactly why Emile was taken to America so abruptly, and although you get the feeling that maybe he should have been given a little more detail, the vagueness certainly makes for a great story.

There are so many threads running through the book, and they all eventually weave together quite nicely. In France, we get to know Emile's family who were French resistant fighters; and some have become Nazi hunters. In Atlanta, we see Emile learn a new culture and face bullies and racists. But there are many nice people he meets too! One family, in particular, becomes very special to Emile, but the children in the family are dealing with child abuse, rape and an alcoholic mother. Since the book spans over twenty years, we get to see the effects of rape and child abuse, and it's distressing. So there's a lot of sadness in the story, but a lot of redemption too. I liked the mixture of history and family relationships. And the ending definitely brought everything full circle.

A sad day, but still there is hope

My second cousin Liz died suddenly last week: age 25, recently graduated with a masters in Social Work and married just under a year. From a human perspective she died, oh, at least 50 if not 60 years too soon. Liz had so many more people to help! She had so many more meals to cook with her husband. She had so many more family reunions to attend. And, she would have made a great mother. From God's perfect perspective, however, it was the perfect time; and time and time again we realize that God's timing is best. But, still, I'm immensely sad that Liz has died.

Let me, as the preacher suggested, remember some good memories about Liz.  She was so mellow; and she had such dry sense of humor. We laughed a lot around Liz. Her Facebook statuses were always clever with a touch of sarcasm or wit! My husband and I met her in Switzerland the year she was studying abroad and we all hopped a train together to Berlin and had such a fabulous time. Despite our age difference and the accomodations (I think we slept on the floor at our friend's place in Berlin), all three of us remember Berlin as the highlight of that trip to Europe.

Being a social worker, Liz took a special interest in my sister Janice and always asked about her. We even got some ad hoc counseling sessions from Liz at various family functions!

The funeral was yesterday. This was without doubt the saddest circumstances under which I've ever attended a funeral, although the service itself was uplifting, and there was standing room only.

The preacher urged us to honor Elizabeth by reminding ourselves how fleeting life on earth can be. Every day, we are one day closer to eternity with God. That just makes every day more important!

He also reminded us what heaven will be like. He quoted Revelations 21: "And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there will be no more death, neither sorrowing nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away."