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."
It was 30 years ago this weekend (I think) that my EYC had a youth retreat at St. Mary's Convent near Sewanee TN. That weekend changed my life in a couple of ways.
First of all, during that weekend, I got intrigued about running. Rusty, the retreat leader was a runner, and the way he described it made it sound easy. Having failed just about every sport in PE, I thought it seemed worth a shot so, when I got back home, I ran to my aunt's house and back. At the time, it seemed like about 4 miles roundtrip, but later I measured it and it was more like 2 miles. Undaunted, though, I saved up money and bought a pair of Nike "waffle" shoes. (Maybe you remember them: turquoise blue with the canary yellow swoosh and the avant-garde waffle soles.)
Secondly, that weekend, I fell in love with the campus of Sewanee. It was so beautiful: the stately chapel, the quad, the mountain setting. Coming home that weekend, I announced to Mama, "I've found the college that I want to go to." Little did I know how much it cost, but my mother and father were not the kind to squash out my dreams, and so they helped me find a way to go. I ended up applying early admission to Sewanee and by Christmas, I had been accepted. (Boy, college admissions sure were simpler back then!)
Thirty years later, I'm still running and fortunately have yet to have that dreaded knee injury that can kill a running career. And, I loved my Sewanee years: I learned so much and had such a good time doing so. Although I didn't meet my husband there, it was a friend from Sewanee whose sister introduced us several years later. So, had I not gone to Sewanee, I would not have met Charles!