Beginnings and Endings

Life is full beginnings and endings. Birth and death are constants.

This weekend I participated in both. The birth of some relationships and the memorial of an 18 year old boy.

Saturday night we had dinner with some new friends that we met when Wayne Jacobsen was here. It is so refreshing to hang out with people and share our journeys and the Spirit that is within us free from agendas! The birth of some relationships. . . .

Joey McCubbins was born with neurofibromatosis. He was considered mentally retarded. There was never a time in his life that he did not suffer physical pain. He suffered valiantly his whole life. His mom and dad, Tom and Mary Alice, are two of the sweetest people I know. They raised Joey in such a way that he had dignity, respect and spiritual values. It was so cool to hear how this young man, who should not had made a difference, made a difference to so many. His spirit, humor and courage touched so many.

Here is a poem that his dad wrote. It is classic "Tom"....

My son died yesterday
Not with fan-fare
Nor with trumpets blowing,
Nor as a giant among men

My son died yesterday
Quietly,
As he lay asleep,
In his room,
With only his mother as a witness
And as a soft voice that caressed and comforted,
"goodbye for now my lovely boy"

My son died yesterday,
He was small in stature. Slow in mind
And accomplished little as it is prized.

My son died yesterday, and
Today I received his ashes
All that is my boy,
contained in a child's shoe box.

My son died yesterday
As I stared at the shoebox
All that was of him
I was humbled
He had accomplished so little, except. . . .
He was.
He accomplished all that would fit
Into a shoebox

My son died yesterday
And while his body filled a small shoebox
There was not any box that could fit
The heart it had contained
There is no shoebox to fit the hearts he had captured.
There was not any shoebox big enough to contain. . . . him

My son was born yesterday