Monday, January 10, 2011

Big thanks to all who made Middy's Celebration of Life special

The night before Middy's Celebration of Life Memorial, Falfurrias had a big rain storm. The next day, everyone said it was Middy kicking off a party in Heaven. We were expecting over 500 people to attend the memorial service, so the High School graciously offer to let us hold it there. This was very fitting given how much of Middy's joy, aka her career as a librarian and student sponsor, took place at that High School. The custodial staff had to get their extra early to clear away all the debris left by the storm the night before. By the time we go there at 10:30, the High School look spotless both inside and out. The administrative staff had the building open and swarm of former students and the drama/speech department were setting up audio/visual equipment, staging plants, doing sound checks... In the foyer, several relatives were setting up pictures, flowers, and keepsakes that Middy held dear. I was awe struck at how many people had come together to make Middy's Celebration of Life perfect. Its the type of thing Middy would have done for someone else, and now, a new generation was doing it for her. Marcel Brown, a close friend of Middy's, walked through giving everyone the highest of complements, "She trained yall well".

Tessa and I drove home to get changed, and by the time we got back, the parking lot was filling up. In all, around 800 people came to pay tribute to Middy. And what an amazing tribute it was. I video'd it, so stay tuned for some youtube vids and DVD copies in the future. In a separate blog post, I want to list and thank the 'cast and crew' individually. I cannot do the memorial justice in this post, so I am not going to even try. I will just say that the most common statements I heard afterwards were, "I have never been to a memorial like that" and "Can I get a copy of the DVD".

After the memorial came the after parties. First, the First United Methodist Church had a wonderful reception were I loaded up on awesome chocolate chip cookies and punch. Middy would have like the idea of starting with desert. Next, everyone went to the Carousel, an adult day care center / event venue in Fal also known as the old Lacks furniture store. There was a full buffet at the Carousel for people to get their grub-on. As 8pm approached, parents were talking about putting their kids to bed and heading back out to Middy's for more celebration. Someone else will have to pick up the story from here because I wimped out and crawled into bed.

2 comments:

  1. What a great celebration of her life! She will truly be missed.

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  2. I am so happy that Middy had such a wonderful celebration! My spirit was there with her. Wo-He-Lo my friend. Your life exemplified all that was important in our Camp Fire Girls spirit: Work, Health, Love. May your light shine upon us all and guide us with our Lord's hands. I love you Middy and Paula!

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