Love and grace are the rule, not the exception
Our lives are filled with crossroads and forks in the road we must navigate. The direction we choose dictates where we end up. Sometimes we make the right choice. Many times, we do not. Whichever direction we choose comes with consequences. Good and bad.
About thirty years ago, I mistakenly took the wrong fork in the road of life. It was not the first time. Nor the last. There are consequences to making poor decisions. Bad choices can sometimes leave us in a lonely place. Shortly after this misstep, there was a knock on my door one evening. It was Curtis Hall. He said the reason for his visit was to tell me he loved me on that day as much as he did the day before. He did not pry into my business. He just said what he had to say, shook my hand, gave me a hug, and left. His visit was friendship at its best.
As often happens in life, we took different paths. Like many good people, Curtis fell victim to an addiction. At no time did I judge him. I tried showing him the same grace he had shown me. This week, Curtis lost his wife Melissa to the devil we call cancer. We had a chance to sit and talk for the first time in ages. He told me he has been clean and sober for twelve years.
He now works inside the court system helping people with addictions try and get their lives back.
Curtis will be the first to tell anyone, because of God, he is now living his best life. I did not know Melissa. She was social worker who also dedicated her life to serving others. They were a good couple.
Curtis was once married to one of Gene and Ruth Ann Evans’s three daughters, Paula.
Sadly, Mr. Evans passed away five years ago. It would be hard for me to think of any couple who has been kinder to me than Mr. and Mrs. Evans. They always supported me during good times and showed me grace during the bad. They passed this trait on to their wonderful daughters. After this week, it became clear to me this way of loving people has also been adopted by their granddaughters, Amanda, and Tracy.
Before Melissa died, she asked Tracy to be one of the speakers at her memorial service.
What great respect and confidence she must have had in Tracy to make this request. It had been years since I had seen Amanda and Tracy, so I had no idea what to expect. They are both grown and making beautiful lives for themselves. As the large crowd began filtering into the chapel, Mrs. Evans, Paula, and her husband Darrin were part of the congregation. Their attendance may seem odd to some. If you know this family, it does not seem strange at all. Love and grace are the rule. Not the exception.
The eulogy Tracy delivered was beautiful and articulate. Every word she spoke came from a place of love for her Dad and Melissa and her family. Especially her children, Alex, and Raegan. She was able to do this with her mother, stepfather, and grandmother in the audience.
Some people might have been nervous in this circumstance. If Tracy had any nervousness, it never showed. Her message was one of love for everyone in the room. And though her Dad made mistakes in his life as I have, she and Amanda showed him love and grace just as their grandparents have always shown to me. As far as eulogies go, this one was as good as I have ever heard. Our community is full of blended families. I wish they all could have witnessed this service. It was, in my opinion, a textbook example of how God wants blended families to behave. It was so good, I had to share the video with Vicki. We both cried sad and happy tears for all involved.
God wants all of us doing His Father’s business. Wherever it might be, if we will follow Him with the same love and grace demonstrated to me at Melissa’s service by Curtis, Amanda, Tracy, Paula, Darrin, and Mrs. Evans, God will bless our works. Rest in peace Melissa as you fly with the angels. You must have been a special lady. Your life touched some wonderful people in my life. I look forward to meeting you when I get there. Amen.