A Brief Eulogy for My Sister

These are the words I spoke at my sister Carolyn's funeral on December 19, 2007, at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Auburn, Alabama. Carolyn died one year ago today, on December 13, 2007.

EULOGY

The famous author Mark Twain wrote the following words of wisdom that I would like to share today:

“Oh death, where is thy sting? It has none, but life has.”

Today I am stung by the loss of my sister, my only sibling, who will never again be only as far away as a phone call or a day’s drive up the interstate. I am left with fond memories of us as girls, spending time with Uncle Jim and other loved ones at our family’s cabin on Lake Cumberland in Kentucky, and camping on a Florida beach with Margaret and our Dad. I will miss my sister’s collections of things - stray cats, beautiful dolls, and old vinyl record albums from the 1970’s.

I have never for one single moment ever regretted that she was my sister, and I truly hope that to her I was more than just another aspect of her suffering. As a Christian, Carolyn believed in heaven and the afterlife. I believe that she has gone to a better place where she is no longer “stung” by the emotional pain she suffered in this life. I believe that she has joined the ancestors, including our mother Iris Mae Anderson Havens, and our beloved grandmother, Vergia Alma Rudd Havens.

I also believe that Carolyn has become part of the cosmic stardust of the universe, and that she will always live on in the minds and hearts of everyone who loved her.