Here is the speech that I gave at my cousin’s funeral that happened in October of 2016…
October 12, 2017, we lost the one and only Michael P. A 16-year-old blonde hair, blue eyed kid who loved to fiddle with computers, play video games, sing in the chorus, play the viola, and was mesmerized by cars. He was kind, loving, caring, and stood up for others. He was a great cousin, nephew, grandson, son, and friend. Many of you like myself have a whirlwind of emotions like anger, frustration, sadness, and even guilt. These emotions are perfectly normal. However, we cannot let these emotions turn any of us to evil just to simply mask the pain. Instead, we must turn to family, friends, and most importantly God to help us through this heartbreaking time. Now I would like to share a little story with you all. The morning I heard of Michael’s passing I was truly in utter shock and disbelief. Later that day I was driving home from school when I prayed to God “Please God show mercy on Michael and consider his circumstances growing up and how he wasn’t in his right mind.” I then cried out to him, “Show me a sign that Michael is up there with you right now in heaven.” The first thing that came to my mind was a bald eagle because of how rare and majestic they are. So, I yelled to God “Show me a bald eagle if he is up there with you right now!” Of course, we as humans want everything so instant. As the minutes past I somewhat gave up on the prayer and went on with my day. The day went by in a blur. Until, when I was sitting around the house and get a call out of the blue from my great stepfather Jason. He randomly says to me “Hey bud there are not one but two bald eagles chasing each other around the dock right now.” In that moment, the prayer that I once lost all hope in, popped into my head and I was speechless as I realized what this meant. I was in complete bliss knowing that our Michael made it to heaven. But wait there is more… The next day I go over to my aunt Cindy’s house to have dinner. When I randomly hear my grandma, Pam talking about her walk and how she saw this beautiful bald eagle. I mean how random is that? To me that is our great God confirming my prayer once again. Meaning that our Michael is up there right now smiling down on each and every one of us waiting until it is our time to join him. Until then, we must keep our heads up and summon up all of our strength to continue in life without Michael. He is soaring high above us all, even though we cannot see him he can see us. This is quote from the world-famous speaker, Les Brown, that I would like to share with you all. “When life knocks you down, try to land on your back. Because if you can look up you can get up!”. Now, at this time I would like to say a prayer. “Dear heavenly father, I lift up all of these people to you. I pray that you give them strength and encouragement as we all go through this terrible time. I also pray that you do away with the guilt that some may feel. Thinking to themselves that they could have done something different to change the outcome. Give them assurance of how much they are loved and that you are in control. In Jesus’ name, amen.” God bless you all!
I am sharing this in hopes of giving those who read this a strong message that our lives and those lives around us can be cut short without any warning. Love everyone around you no matter the circumstances. Thanks, Mark
