March 9, 2022
Wednesday…a snowy Wednesday…and I think of you...Jay…of writing a
letter to you…you where there is no sadness nor pain…I read and sing, “How Great
Thou Art”…taken from my thoughts…playing over and over in my head…and I read in
the book given to me…”Then Sings My Soul”…and there the very words I had sang…oh
when your soul sings…it seems to carry the tune much better!
I read a writing of the song’s history and it talks of a
poem written by a 26-year-old man…26 catches me…Jay 26 years old…a young man by
any means…Eleven years since that fatal day…fatal…I look up the definition…causing
death…death in the eyes of those remaining…but not in the hearts of those
believing!!!
I go back to thinking of how this poem written by this young man…ended up touching one life and then another and then another…I think of you today Jaybird…wondering why I refer to you now as Jaybird…perhaps since you flew away…I came across a picture yesterday…titled “Snowy Days and Steller’s Jays” photo taken by I believe Lori Fredrickson from Wyoming...but this photo captured me as I had never seen one before...And I laugh as I research more on this bird as it says, “Steller’s Jays are large songbirds with large heads, chunky bodies, rounded wings, and a long, full tail.” Yes, I hear you giggle…
Yesterday I spent time with your daughter…she has pieces of
you scattered in her personality…pieces of her Mom…of others…yet her own unique
person. And I think of how like a poem
written a long time ago…continues to touch lives today…and I think of how you
touch the lives of those that remain…and that for many is your laughter...your heart...your words...and yet your story
remains…and perhaps that is one of the reasons why I continue to talk of you…to
think of you…to remember you…
I don’t understand still…and maybe it is for me not to ever understand the why's…why
a young man would be taken from his wife and child…his parents...his siblings...his friends...yet was talking about you
the other day and this person said they felt like something was spared from
happening…and I know that even though a hard one…that you, Jay, would step up
and say I can go…I don’t know what happened…what was kept from happening…but in
this conversation we talked of how your wife and child…your family and friends…knew
you loved them…that you didn’t leave because you didn’t love them. I think of many that do not have that comfort
in knowing that their daddy loved them…that their spouse loved them…and their
friend loved them…and their child or brother...or son-in-love...and I am reminded of the verse…
No greater LOVE
than this who lay down one’s life for his friends.
John 15:13
And though I won’t join others who will gather at your grave
to remember you…you remain 4EVER in my heart!!!
lys
