Celebration and Memorial for Marie Hazard – October 29th 5pm – Arlington

We are going to have a celebration and memorial of Marie’s life on October 29th in Arlington.  Possibly at John and Marie’s home, unless anyone comes forward with a suggestion for a better place…hint, hint ;).  For those of you that recall Marie’s festive holidays, we aren’t stopping short to celebrate her life.  Please come dressed for Halloween, pay tribute to Marie by being festive.  We will also be creating a Memorial Book to give to her daughter, as she will most likely not be allowed to attend this celebration.  We would like pictures and stories to include in this, highlighting Marie’s life and the other lives that she has touched.  Your relationships were important to her.

I found the following poem that seemed to be speaking what Marie might be saying to her daughter:

Life is beautiful, my child

Life is beautiful, my child,
Though many things go wrong,
And you may hear much sadness in
Its strange and lovely song.
Though friends and loved ones die, my child,
They’re never really gone.
Nor more nor less than yesterday,
In you they will live on.

They will live on in you, my child,
As everything you see,
Though it must vanish, will remain
Alive in memory.

Alive in what you think and feel
And dream and say and do,
For all who ever were still are
Upon this earth in you.
~Nicholas Gordon

Lastly, I think the Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi is how Marie would want all of us to look towards our future and remember her:

Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where this is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light
And where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled
as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

We may never understand the purpose of Marie’s death.  We may never be able to fully understand the plan and how we can turn this into something positive.  But maybe, we can turn this tragedy into something positive if we all carry a little bit of Marie with us in our lives.  If we can each turn a little bit of hatred into love, despair into hope, doubt into faith, and sadness into joy; we can all make the world a better place in Marie’s honor.