Celebrate Life

Daily Prompt: Dearly Departed
Write your own eulogy.

Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to celebrate the life of our daughter, sister, wife, aunt, niece, cousin and friend, Kristine Marie. Some of you may remember calling her Krissy, and you usually got grand-fathered in to call her that, but she did prefer to be called Kris. Although we miss her in this life, we can almost hear her say “Do not mourn, for I am with Jesus in Heaven. Everything is perfect here, and more beautiful than I had ever imagined. Please celebrate life; it is a beautiful gift God has given.”

Raise your hand if you will miss her crooked smile, quick wit, and laugh. Not many people may know how she got her crooked smile. She got it around 7th grade. She was running in the street to catch a football that was thrown to her. As she ran forward, she turned her head to look over her left shoulder and that was when the van showed up. She ran right into the back end of a parked van. She blamed the braces on her teeth for cutting into her upper lip and cheek area weakening the muscle, giving her the crooked smile. However, she always bounced back from a setback.

If she wasn’t laughing at her own quick wit or jokes from others, then you knew her heart was heavy about something. But even if it was heavy, she would say something goofy and still let out a little laugh. Her husband, Mark, liked when she watched America’s Funniest Home Video television shows, as that was guaranteed laughter from the belly. The silly antics of animal videos tickled her the most.

Speaking of animals, in one chapter of her life, she had some parakeets. She took pride in teaching one little Budgie to talk. She really loved that little bird as it was her very first pet. Later in life, Kris was introduced to cats and became a cat magnet. Sitting in the recliner, she had three cats with her at one time. Lying in bed, four cats would curl up on and around her. Waking up in the morning, she would have an entourage follow her into the kitchen to be fed. The cats loved their momma as much as she loved them.

How many of you went to a movie with Kris? Yes, barely any of you. If you did happen to venture out with her, how did you like the matinee time slot she insisted on attending? Rare were the times when she went to an evening show, and if she did, it was after a nap because once she sat still in the evening, she was quick to fall asleep. Midnight movies were out of the question. A $9.00 two-hour nap would drive her crazy because she could sleep for free at home.

How about those homemade chocolate chip cookies or her homemade chicken noodle soup? She always added her secret ingredient which, I suppose is as good time as any to say was love, and you could taste it.

Kris had a way of remembering the smallest details of your life and she often sent notes and cards of encouragement, birthday wishes, anniversary memories, or just because. One year, she gave each member of her family a little business-card sized card with a personalized note hand-written on the back. She was so mindful of others.

Kris would tell you that her biggest accomplishment in life was to finish college, even if it was when she turned 41 years old. This time frame was actually perfect for her as she considered herself a late bloomer. She applied herself in her communication studies and graduated Cum Laude; quite an achievement after being a mediocre student all her life. A few of her professors said she had raised the bar on some of their required assignments as she worked diligently to do the best job possible.

When Kris signed up for Creative Writing in college, she began a love interest with writing. She was so humbled when her quirky book, “My Q-Tips Talk and Other Conversations with Inanimate Objects” stayed on the New York Times Best Seller list for three months.

Kris held several office jobs and looked prim and proper at work, but once at home, she was the one to change the oil in the cars. She had the ramps, the creeper and all the tools necessary to do the job. She loved to fix broken things around the house and seemed to always be tinkering with something. She got that from spending time with her dad watching and helping him fix things around their house.

Kris absolutely loved listening to Christian music. To her it was like singing the Bible every time the music played because it was obvious that Christian musicians were inspired by the Bible. Some favorite lines from a Brandon Heath song titled, “I’m Not Who I Was” are what she would have loved to tell everyone about herself…
I wish you could see me now
I wish I could show you how
I’m not who I was

Kris will be deeply missed by her husband Mark and their five cats, Alli, Bean, Gus, Mojo, and Zoe. She waits in heaven for them as well as for her mom, siblings, in-laws, nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends.

Psalm 23:5-6 New International Version (NIV)
You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Surely your goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
forever.

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