Posted by November 16, 1943 –March 22, 2008
The following eulogy was delivered in March 1943.
I received a card last week that said, “God gave Mezzie a beautiful soul; that beauty is now perfected in his presence.” If you take nothing else away from this service, please take that thought with you.
On behalf of my family, I want to thank you all for coming here to celebrate Mezzie’s life, and, above all, for making that life richer and more beautiful. I think that in the end what defines the life we live is the quality of our friendships and relationships. By that measure, Mezzie’s life was wonderful beyond compare. All of you enriched Mezzie’s life immeasurably. If I try to take hold of what defined Mezzie’s life it was five great loves – love of her Lord, love of her family, love of her friends, love of the new home she found in Eagles Mere, Pennsylvania, and love of life itself.
Mezzie was a dedicated follower of Jesus and her love for Him was the cornerstone of her life. When she was passing through troubles she turned to Him for support. One time she had a vision of God holding her in the palm of his hand. She was dressed in a white mink coat, and God was whispering in her ear over and over, “I love you.” That image thrilled her soul, and her greatest desire in life was to hear that voice say those words. I am sure that is what is happening right now.
Mezzie loved her family fiercely. Many of our early arguments revolved around her determination to give her daughters everything whatever the cost. She made motherhood her full-time job. She committed herself totally to her children, always looking for ways to prepare them for their adult lives and to strengthen their Christian walk.
She was devoted wife, following me wherever my career led me – to Kenya, to Nigeria and to the wilds of Northern Virginia. She loved doing little kindnesses for me. I doubt my handkerchiefs and sheets will ever be ironed again. Her judgment was almost always sound, and I learned to follow her instincts more closely than my own. It was her commitment to our Lord that led me to seek him out as well, and that has been her most precious gift to me. She was my closest friend, and I’ve found over the past few weeks how much of a vacuum her passing has created in my life. Perhaps once an hour I think of something or experience something and think, “I have to tell Mezzie,” and then realize that Mezzie is no longer there to share with.
She was a spectacular Mimi. She loved bringing her grandchildren to Eagles Mere and sharing the mountains with them – counting red barns with Maddie or picking baskets of flowers with Makaley or teaching Micah the names of herbs. She loved reading to them and showered them with love and wisdom.
She was a wonderful daughter, extending her father’s last days – bundling him up in that last winter, taking him out on our porch, and getting him to march which worked in alleviating the pain from his pancreatic cancer. And you all know how much of her life in these last few years has been dedicated to caring for her mother Rose.
Her third love was for her friends. Mezzie was an encourager. When we arrived at Eagles Mere we found the dining room table filled with cards and notes she was preparing to send out. In fact, at her funeral, the pastor asked how many people received a card from her in the last three days, and at least a 20-30 people raised their hands. There were little evidence of this around our house – a letter from a Sister Ruth-whom Mezzie met once and to whom she gave a skin lotion for her rash and wondered if Mezzie could send her another one. Mezzie was the queen of small gestures. She forced me, grumbling all the way, to stop at different pet stores so she could find the right toy for a friend’s dog. She baked cookies for the electric company linemen and discussed faith with the house painter. Everyone she met was accorded her complete attention. She wrote to a young man in national guard training who she only knew because she knew his mother.
Mostly, she led people to Jesus and disciple them. I know of at least a dozen people to whom she was a spiritual mother. She must have given away at least 100 bibles over the years, to friends, to an Iranian hairdresser, a Turkish neighbor, to someone ahe met waiting at her doctor’s office.
Fourth, she loved her adopted home, Eagles Mere, as only a convert can. Mezzie was a true Luddite, who would have been more at home in the 19th century. She didn’t watch TV or go to the movies. She literally didn’t know the difference between Britney Spears and Cissy Spacek. She loved the peace, the pace, the old-time, small-town graces of Eagles mere and Sullivan County, a place of fifteen minutes Fourth of July parades, outhouse races and wild ramp dinners. Those graces were so evident to us in the few days we were up there preparing for her funeral, in the many kindnesses we received.
Last, she loved life itself. Even though she struggled with depression and insecurity, she loved life. She was an informaniac, wanting to know everything about everything. Her friends and family know that she was a walking encyclopedia; nothing was uninteresting to her. She was a person of infinite enthusiasms. Only by the grace of God was I spared from raising sheep so she could spin their wool.
For us, she was the center of our universe, the celestial body around whom our lives orbited, and we will miss her like we miss the sun on a cloudy day. It is a great comfort that many said to me that she had recently felt the shroud of depression lift, and that she looked forward to a refound freedom. I want to close with a poem that she shared recently expressing the joy she knew she received daily from walking with Jesus.
Sheer Joy
Oh the sheer joy of it! Living with thee,
God of the universe, Lord of a tree,
Maker of mountains, lover of me!
Oh, the sheer joy of it! Breathing thy air;
Morning is dawning, gone every care.
All the world’s singing, God’s everywhere.”
Oh, the sheer joy of it! Walking with thee,
Out by the hilltop, down by the sea,
Life is so wonderful, Life is so free.
Oh, the sheer joy of it! Working with God,
Running his errands, Waiting his nod,
Building his heaven on common sod.
Oh, the sheer joy of it! – ever to be,
Living in glory, Living with thee,
Lord of tomorrow, lover of me.