IN MEMORY OF MARSHALL WOODS

AWAKENED AUGUST 3, 1921

RESTED DECEMBER 11, 2001

AS WE MOURN THE DEPARTURE OF A HUMBLE SOUL ALIVE WITH A SPIRIT WE SO ADMIRED. WHEN I RECEIVED THE NEWS OF MY GRANDFATHER NOT IN THE BEST OF HEALTH I TOOK IT SO HARD, AND WHEN ASKED TO WRITE THIS IT WAS VERY HARD FOR ME KNOWING THAT SO MANY OF OUR LOVED ONES ONCE AGAIN WE ARE SUFFERING FROM ANOTHER LOSS OF OUR GENERATION. AS A CHILD GROWING UP WITH MY GRANDFATHER IN PASADENA WAS VERY SPECIAL TO ME. I REMEMBER GOING WITH HIM TO DO DIFFERENT JOBS RIDING IN THOSE BIG TRUCKS HE LOVED SO MUCH, I WAS ALWAYS PROUD TO BE THE ONE SITTING NEXT TO MY GRANDFATHER WHEREVER HE WENT I WANTED TO BE THERE. DADDY YOU ARE MY WORLD, MY EMINENCE...YOU WILL NEVER BE FORGOTTEN FOR ALL THE LOVE YOU HAVE SHARED THROUGHOUT YOUR LIFETIME. THE KNOWLEDGE YOU GENEROUSLY SHARED IN YOUR LIFE WITH YOUR CHILDREN, WITH YOUR FAMILY & FRIENDS EVEN THOUGH SOMETIMES WE DIDN’T HEAR YOU (SMILE) WE STILL FELT THE UNSELFISH LOVE THAT YOU GAVE TO US. THROUGHOUT ALL THE PAIN AND SUFFERING THAT YOU UNDESERVINGLY, BUT UNDERSTANDINGLY ACCEPTED AS YOUR OWN. WE COULD ALWAYS GAZE INTO YOUR SMILING EYES FOR A SENSE OF COMFORT. AND WE APPRECIATED THAT....

AND NOW THAT YOU HAVE LEFT THE COMPOUND BODY OF FLESH AND BLOOD, I WILL UNDERSTAND THAT TO BE A TRANSITION TO TRUE SERENITY. THERE IS NO PLACE ON EARTH WHERE DEATH CANNOT FIND US-EVEN IF WE CONSTANTLY TWIST OUR HEADS ABOUT IN ALL DIRECTIONS AS IN A DUBIOUS WAY... IF THERE WERE ANYWAY OF SHELTERING FROM DEATH’S DOOR-I AM NOT THE MAN TO RECOIL FROM IT...BUT IT IS MADNESS TO THINK YOU COULD SUCCEED.

MEN COME AND THEY GO AND THEY TROT AND THEY DANCE, AND NEVER A WORD ABOUT DEATH. ALL WELL AND GOOD. YET WHEN DEATH COMES TO THEM, THEIR WIVES, THEIR CHILDREN AND THEIR FRIENDS...CATCHING THEM UNAWARE AND UNPREPARED, THEN THE STORMS OF PASSION OVERWHELMS US, WHAT CRIES, WHAT FURY, WHAT DESPAIR....

TO BEGIN DEPRIVING DEATH OF IT’S GREATEST ADVANTAGE OVER US, LET US ADOPT A WAY CLEAN CONTRARY TO THAT COMMON ONE; LET US DEPRIVE DEATH OF IT’S STRANGENESS, LET US FREQUENT IT, LET US GET USE TO IT; LET US HAVE NOTHING MORE OFTEN TO THINK OF... WE DO NOT KNOW WHERE DEATH AWAITS US: SO LET US WAIT FOR IT EVERYWHERE. TO PRACTICE DEATH IS TO PRACTICE FREEDOM. A MAN WHO HAS LEARNED HOW TO DIE HAS UNLEARNED HOW TO BE A SLAVE.

MONTAIGNE

I SAY THIS WITH MUCH RESPECT TO OUR PAST LOVED ONES. BUT WE MUST TAKE THIS TIME TO REFLECT ON THE UNITY OF OUR LOVED ONES THAT ARE ALIVE AND SPEND THE TIME WITH ONE ANOTHER NOW!! RATHER THEN AWAITING ANOTHER PASSING... A FAMILY IS SPECIAL, AND WE MUST TREAT IT LIKE SUCH, THERE’S NO LOVE LIKE WASTED LOVE. WHEN WE LEAVE HERE TODAY LETS CELEBRATE OUR PAST LOVED ONES. EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENS AT THE TIME GOD CHOOSES... ECCLESIASTES-CHAPTER 3, VERSE 1.

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