Posted by Dave on 04/29/08 at 11:18:05 am
Categories: Community

My church said goodbye to a friend of many last night.

Our brother Ted died last week of cancer, a struggle that began eight years ago that culminated with the last few months of intense discomfort before ending when the fight could no longer continue.

Ted loved art. He loved to bike. He loved classic rock. He loved the Chicago Bears. And he loved kids.

And what he loved the most was combining some of those things, which played out most of all in teaching kids at the church - both in Sunday school, about the Bible, and teaching young girls and boys how to not only create art, but to truly enjoy art. I unfortunately did not know Ted well, but did get an opportunity to get to know him. I had the opportunity to be in his apartment with our cell group week after week, because he was no longer able to leave the house without great effort. I had the opportunity to talk to him about music, or his art. I had the opportunity to hear his gentle voice, often containing a subtle joy.

I also had the opportunity to receive a gift from Ted - a card with a sketch that he drew of me. That is the image on this post, and I will always remember the joy that Ted had when he created.

Last night we said good bye.

And our church knows how to say goodbye.

We laughed, we cried, we hugged, we prayed, we sang, we danced, we ate, we talked, and we listened. We listened to Ted, in a video that he recently made, talk to the children that he loved so much. We played music that Ted would have loved. We listened to people's memories of Ted. We hugged each other, cried together. And like our church always does, we ate and talked together.

There is something powerful about truly mourning and truly celebrating at the same time. We were able to celebrate the life of Ted while mourning the loss of a friend.

And we were able to do it together.

Good bye Ted. You will be missed. But we enjoyed you when you were here.

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