Honoring a Gentle Giant
Today I will be officiating a memorial service for a friend who has been released from his suffering. A successful man by anyone's standards, he was able to work 40 years for the same company, climb the corporate ladder, and end his working career in a job he absolutely loved. While talking with his family and looking over the awards he received during his career, it was obvious the greatest acheivements of this man were not accomplished in the oil field, but in his life outside of the petroleum world.
He was a gentle man and a loving father. Walking and living among alcoholics, he was the refuge for so many of his family during the periods of stormy conflict. He constantly kept busy helping others, fixing up places, finding another project to keep people involved in to help them in their own personal growth.
He spent his retirement years building camps for kids, churches for poor communities, or helping out his own children and grandchildren. The kindness and gentleness he brought to so many is apparant by the happiness of so many that he was finally released from Lewisbody Disease, a long slow deterioration of the mind.
Much like its cousin Alzheimers, this disease brings on aggression, regression, and cessation of sociatal controls. For the last four years his family has watched his demeanor change, to see the frustration in his face as he realized he was slowly slipping from reality. Words he never would have spoken came from his lips, angry thoughts expressed, and for the first time in his 80+ years, a form of meaness was expressed. He ceased to be the man they knew and loved and became a victim of a terrible transforming illness.
Today we will celebrate his healthy years, the years full of warm memories from his compassionate gentleness... the years when he was the refuge, not the conflict.
He was a gentle man and a loving father. Walking and living among alcoholics, he was the refuge for so many of his family during the periods of stormy conflict. He constantly kept busy helping others, fixing up places, finding another project to keep people involved in to help them in their own personal growth.
He spent his retirement years building camps for kids, churches for poor communities, or helping out his own children and grandchildren. The kindness and gentleness he brought to so many is apparant by the happiness of so many that he was finally released from Lewisbody Disease, a long slow deterioration of the mind.
Much like its cousin Alzheimers, this disease brings on aggression, regression, and cessation of sociatal controls. For the last four years his family has watched his demeanor change, to see the frustration in his face as he realized he was slowly slipping from reality. Words he never would have spoken came from his lips, angry thoughts expressed, and for the first time in his 80+ years, a form of meaness was expressed. He ceased to be the man they knew and loved and became a victim of a terrible transforming illness.
Today we will celebrate his healthy years, the years full of warm memories from his compassionate gentleness... the years when he was the refuge, not the conflict.
Labels: Life
posted by Frustrated Writer | 5:54 AM
1 Comments:
May he rest in peace and may he always be remembered as the kind, strong man. Your description of his life - always being the solid, steady one to turn to in times of chaos - sounds like one worth living. I'm sorry for the loss of your friend and hope he is happier where he is now.
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