Responses to eulogy

Below are comments that came in yesterday about my eulogy to my sister.

Laura W. writes:

That’s beautiful. The greatest gift a parent can give a child is siblings. Even after death, they are precious possessions.

Adela G. writes:

Your eulogy for your sister moved me to tears. I am glad you posted it. Thank you.

What was once commonly called a “death watch” is one of the most profound and intimate experiences open to us, taking a loved one farther from us every second yet somehow bringing us ever closer to the mystery of God’s love. It mingles joy and grief, faith and rebellion in ways that cannot be fathomed but only felt.

I like Hopkins’ description of that circle of loss and love, so devastating yet so strangely beautiful, in his poem, “Felix Randal” :

This seeing the sick endears them to us, us too it endears.
My tongue had taught thee comfort, touch had quenched thy tears,
Thy tears that touched my heart…

Sam B. writes:

Very touching! On May 4, my primary care doctor—WWII contemporary—passed away.

When my good wife of 42 years died in 1997 (Dec. 7, Pearl Harbor Day), I thought: The great tragedy of life is not death, but loss. With every passing day and with every passing loss, that truth becomes more obvious.

Mark Jaws writes:

That was very touching. Thanks for sharing it with us.

Brandon F. writes:

That was beautiful and heart warming. Thank you for sharing it with us. Your sister’s warrior spirit lives on in you. God bless you and your sister.

LA replies:

Thanks, all, I appreciate the kind and thoughtful comments. That’s a fine thought that Laura had. And what Adela says about the death watch was certainly true in my experience.

To Brandon: what you said made my day and is precious to me.

In fact, while I’m not a slouch in the intellectual combat department, since my sister’s death I have at times had this strange feeling that something of her zest and warrior spirit had been mysteriously enfused into me. And this is very ironic, since my sister was on the left and we famously disagreed about almost everything.

Stephen F. writes:

Thank you for posting the beautiful eulogy to your sister. It reminds me of occasions in my own life and it always helps when someone is able to evoke something about what was special about the person—and to help those present to feel hope in something beyond death.

For your readers, it also conveys something about where you “come from,” so to speak.

Mary Jackson writes:

You spoke very eloquently at your sister’s funeral, not an easy thing to do. Karen sounds to have been an admirable person.

It is difficult to understand a strong, feisty person dying. And, as C. S. Lewis said, in better words than I can find, our faith, and our confidence that we will see them in the next life, doesn’t make us miss them any less in this life—we will never again know them as they were.

I know just what you mean about inheriting qualities from a loved one who has died. When my father died, my brother suddenly acquired an ability to fix things—before he had been hopeless. And I suddenly found I could read maps. Very strange.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at May 07, 2008 11:15 AM | Send