This is part of her husband's obituary:
....John was an excellent athlete, a member of the Colorado All State high school soccer team and an active mountaineer. In 1971 he was injured in a skiing accident, losing the use of his legs. This did not deter him from the active life he loved. John devoted much of his life to sharing his passion for nature with others as a gifted K-12 classroom teacher and in such organizations as POINT (Paraplegics on independent nature trips) in Texas, numerous Outward Bound Schools, the Vinland Center in Minneapolis, MN, Adventure Etc. in San Francisco, CA, Telluride Adaptive Sports Program, and other programs.
John represented the United States as the first US Nordic skier in the 1988 Paralympics in Innsbruck, Austria. He loved to sail, play tennis and ski. He was an avid fly fisherman and loved anything to do with water and boats.....
Both my friend M and her husband J were masters at overcoming limitations: cultural barriers, physical barriers, political challenges and others. In some cases, they dutifully challenged the status quo in standing up for what they believed in, for themselves and for others. J 's testimony to the US House of Representatives on wilderness and sustainability issues is a good example of that, as was his involvement in programs mentioned above.
J lived a bit over the edge, as his wife attests. Certainly he lived it fully and left quite a legacy of inspiration complete with tons of river analogies about life.
So what lives on? Looking back at what he has done, it is obvious that everything he did for others will live on. He inspired so many to see beyond the material picture, to see beyond a comfortable life to a life that takes you a little over the edge.
I think that however simple and day to day our lives are, what makes life worth living is that we love one another - which motivates to do things for each other and to make sure that those experiences that have meant so much to us are available for the next generation. It is all about love.
In this way, it is easier for me to understand we are all spiritual. Loving is what we do. Challenging limitations is what we do. Breaking out of dead-end thinking to see more of God's love and God's loving provision is natural for us. Like J, we have a natural, holy curiosity to explore all of God's goodness and grandeur. We are all spiritual beings and understanding this helps to see that we can never really lose one another. All is well.
A couple friends have posted this poem. It is one that I recently read at another's memorial service last month. I love it.
by Henry Scott Holland 1847-1918, cannon of St Paul’s Cathedral
Death is nothing at all.
It does not count.
I have only slipped away into the next room.
Nothing has happened.
Everything remains exactly as it was.
I am I, and you are you,
and the old life that we lived so fondly together is untouched, unchanged.
Whatever we were to each other, that we are still.
Call me by the old familiar name.
Speak of me in the easy way which you always used.
Put no difference into your tone.
Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow.
Laugh as we always laughed at the little jokes that we enjoyed together.
Play, smile, think of me, pray for me.
Let my name be ever the household word that it always was.
Let it be spoken without an effort,without the ghost of a shadow upon it.
Life means all that it ever meant.
It is the same as it ever was.
There is absolute and unbroken continuity.
What is death but a negligible accident?
Why should I be out of mind because I am out of sight?
I am but waiting for you,
for an interval,
somewhere very near,
just round the corner.
All is well.
To share your thoughts on this or to explore this idea further, please feel free to be in contact with me, add your own comments below, email this article to a friend, or add to the healing finds and sites on the web to the right.
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