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The following was spoken during a recent funeral service held for my very special and very loved Aunt, Darlene.
"When my Aunt unexpectedly passed away just recently, my daughter remarked how sad it was but how happy she was for her that she got to be in Heaven. I thought about how much simpler the world would be if we could always view things through the eye's of a child.
Because then the sudden passing of someone loved by so many, and the injustice and shock that consumes us would all disappear. For we would see the world as a better place, having gotten to share it with someone so special and we would rejoice at the thought of her dancing in the clouds and praising the Lord.
We would laugh as we remember the good times and cry when we felt the pain of her loss. We would dream of warm hugs and holidays together and draw pictures of the times we shared.
If we viewed things as a child we may still ask why but the answer "I don't Know" would be good enough. We would be sad one moment and then go play the next, never feeling guilty for doing so or wondering if we had thought about it enough.
We would accept what is because there is so much in this world that is bigger than our understanding. Blaming ourselves for what we should have said or done would not even be in our comprehension.
Our minds would be filled with the beauty and joys of our world. If only we could always view the world in this way. But we aren't children and our thoughts are much deeper and our minds sometime keep us from remembering the true blessings we have been given…"
My sister actually gave this eulogy during the funeral services and she went on to recount personal experiences she had shared with my Aunt. There wasn't a dry eye in the room, especially after her husband of thirty years, a huge bear of a man, broke down and cried openly as he voiced his own memories of her through freely flowing tears of sorrow.
I couldn't do it. I deal with tragedy differently then most and almost stayed away from the service all together. I realized this was truly selfish of me and was there to offer my condolences' and miss my Aunt the only way I knew how…in silence.
My Aunt was an extremely energetic and passionate woman. You never saw her without a smile on her face. She truly enjoyed her life and lived it to the fullest each and every day, unlike so many…including myself.
It was a shock to us all when she died of a massive heart attack in her sleep just days before the Christmas holidays.
It triggered thoughts of my own mortality and how much time I might have left. Life is a precious commodity that we often take for granted because the ending is to far off in the future to have much consequence.
I often felt this way myself until I saw an episode on a morning talk show featuring a young professor and father of three small boys, talking about his coming death. He had pancreatic cancer and just a few months to live.
Oh my how I cried my eyes out. It was so very sad but he delivered a message everyone should hear. I've included a link to the video below and I hope you take a few moments to hear the words of a man who knows he is dying and how he has chosen to spend his remaining days. It truly changed how I look at my life and helps me not take things so seriously.
We never know when our time will run out so we need to live our life as though it is our last day. Just think about it okay, and watch the video.
Please go to: http://www.MylaMadson.com/lastlecture
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