Being only 14 months older, barely out of the infant stage
myself, I have no memories of life without Mike, nor do I have any of his
struggles to live in his first year, but I’ve gained so many more memories
since. He was never able to speak, but I’ve discovered many times that despite
this inability, he has taught us valuable lessons in life, how to deal with
difficulties, how to endure, and how to be happy. Most important of all, I
learned from him some valuable lessons of our relationship with the Lord. I
would like to share a poem I wrote in remembrance of one of these lessons. A
few of the stanzas are written in the back of the program.
What My Brother
Taught Me
He sits before
me and patiently waits
As a pair of
socks I get from the drawer
Never a sound
either one of us makes
When I quickly
kneel down on the floor
Then do I
glance up at his patient face
While foot by
foot his socks gently slip on
And it strikes
me the irony of my place
With him up
high and I down low alone
Wasn’t it said
that Jesus knelt before
His loyal
friends to serve them in their needs,
Washing their
feet so they were clean once more,
Empowering
hearts through his kindly deeds?
So what now
before me did my eyes behold?
It was me, not
my brother sitting there.
No humbler
vision that can ever be told,
For Jesus was
assisting me in my care.
Kneeling before
me addressing my needs,
He helps with
things I could not myself do,
Strengthening
and helping through His deeds,
Teaching me to
know and see what is true.
When heavy burdening
troubles seize me,
He stands
nearby watching in great concern,
And feels
compassion for my injury,
Comforting me
when I toward Him turn.
Life is totally
dependent on Him.
Through Him I
am fully nourished and fed.
He supports me
as I with weak limb,
As through this
world I continue to tread.
Without His
pure kindness, I cannot live,
For I find
myself as the crippled one.
His life and
great suffering did He give,
And through
this gift a better world begun.
As my brother’s
life depends upon me,
Does mine ever
depend on God’s Son.
And as my
brother trusts so patiently,
I should put my
trust in the Holy One.
I cannot finish my talk without mentioning Mom. She had a
special connection with Mike. After watching him through his illness, and knowing
he wasn’t going to get better, I felt Mom was telling us he went through
enough, and it was time for us to let him go to her. My siblings find it was no
ordinary coincidence that during one of the first days while he was in the
hospital, I was going through her papers, and found a note scribbled on a
folded sheet of paper pertaining to her usual thoughts about Mike. It was written
several years ago, while Mike and I were still children.
Walked in
cemetery—felt a little
melancholy. Saw
grave of a 1 yr old
with windmills
& toys—thought of epitaph
for Mike: “He
has completed his mission,
and now his
body is as perfect as his
spirit.
As an honor to Mom, this statement has become a sort of
theme for this transition. I had a little quibble with using the present tense,
not liking the idea of Mike’s perfect condition being compared to a
deteriorating body, but then I realized that Mom wasn’t looking toward Mike’s
death, but further into the future. She was expressing her faith and hope in
the resurrection when Mike’s body will no longer be frail and broken, returned
in its perfect completeness. Mom was private with her deep feelings, but when
she spoke of Mike, she couldn’t help but be emotional. Now they are together
again, and perhaps now Mike has the ability to watch over us as we did with
him. It’s been a blessing and a pleasure to have the opportunity to take care
of him nearly my whole life. God has surely been good to me and my family.
 |
| Mike's casket and flowers. |
