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I was touched to realize that some people have a calling in life that
allows or requires (each persons choice of which!) them to be in the
heart of the epidemic. One such person that I know is Beth La Rocca
Pitts, Senior Pastor at Saint Mark - and the number of names she gave me
made, from her life and from her Saint Mark history, me stop in my
tracks. To give us a glimpse of these lives, Beth shared:
1 -
Scott, my best friend from high school who died in 1991. He was survived
by his parents and two siblings and three half siblings. He was 31. 2 -
Mike, my high school youth director who died before Scott did but I
can't remember the year. Mike was survived by his wife and two children.
3- Ben, the director of the Duke University Chorale wh
en
I was in college. 4- Marcus, a friend from high school and church
youth group who died sometime in the 80's. He was survived by his
parents and sister. He was 30. 5- Rob and Ron, brothers who were
friends of mine in high school.
They died in the 80's as well. They
were 30 and 33. 6- Tim, a friend of my sister's from med school. 7-
David, a friend of Scott's from the Names project staff.
These are
the eight I remember from right at the beginning of the epidemic. All of
them died for want of the protease inhibitors.
More recently,
Tim, Mike, Davin, Marc, and Stan. All of these had AIDS, though Marc
technically died of a coronary after a devastating bout of influenza.
Davin got exhausted and stopped taking his antivirals. Stan developed
liver cancer, Mike secumbed to kidney failure, and Tim had a massive
cascade failure of all his systems.
While it is so easy to
allow the pain of loss to make us close our hearts, Beth just seems to
keep opening it up more. It's so easy to say - this is just too much -
let's just focus on something else. But Beth keeps humor, acceptance
and the purest form of love flowing. Thanks Beth, for living out my
favorite Saint Francis of Assisi theme - Preach the gospel every day
and, if you absolutely have to, use words. Beth really doesn't need
words (even though she has them!).
Thanks, Saint Mark UMC, for truly having Open Hearts, Open Minds and Open Doors - and challenging me to have the same.
I was touched to realize that some people have a calling in life that
allows or requires (each persons choice of which!) them to be in the
heart of the epidemic. One such person that I know is Beth La Rocca
Pitts, Senior Pastor at Saint Mark - and the number of names she gave me
made, from her life and from her Saint Mark history, me stop in my
tracks. To give us a glimpse of these lives, Beth shared:
1 - Scott, my best friend from high school who died in 1991. He was survived by his parents and two siblings and three half siblings. He was 31. 2 - Mike, my high school youth director who died before Scott did but I can't remember the year. Mike was survived by his wife and two children. 3- Ben, the director of the Duke University Chorale wh
1 - Scott, my best friend from high school who died in 1991. He was survived by his parents and two siblings and three half siblings. He was 31. 2 - Mike, my high school youth director who died before Scott did but I can't remember the year. Mike was survived by his wife and two children. 3- Ben, the director of the Duke University Chorale wh
en
I was in college. 4- Marcus, a friend from high school and church
youth group who died sometime in the 80's. He was survived by his
parents and sister. He was 30. 5- Rob and Ron, brothers who were
friends of mine in high school.
They died in the 80's as well. They were 30 and 33. 6- Tim, a friend of my sister's from med school. 7- David, a friend of Scott's from the Names project staff.
These are the eight I remember from right at the beginning of the epidemic. All of them died for want of the protease inhibitors.
More recently, Tim, Mike, Davin, Marc, and Stan. All of these had AIDS, though Marc technically died of a coronary after a devastating bout of influenza. Davin got exhausted and stopped taking his antivirals. Stan developed liver cancer, Mike secumbed to kidney failure, and Tim had a massive cascade failure of all his systems.
While it is so easy to allow the pain of loss to make us close our hearts, Beth just seems to keep opening it up more. It's so easy to say - this is just too much - let's just focus on something else. But Beth keeps humor, acceptance and the purest form of love flowing. Thanks Beth, for living out my favorite Saint Francis of Assisi theme - Preach the gospel every day and, if you absolutely have to, use words. Beth really doesn't need words (even though she has them!).
Thanks, Saint Mark UMC, for truly having Open Hearts, Open Minds and Open Doors - and challenging me to have the same.
They died in the 80's as well. They were 30 and 33. 6- Tim, a friend of my sister's from med school. 7- David, a friend of Scott's from the Names project staff.
These are the eight I remember from right at the beginning of the epidemic. All of them died for want of the protease inhibitors.
More recently, Tim, Mike, Davin, Marc, and Stan. All of these had AIDS, though Marc technically died of a coronary after a devastating bout of influenza. Davin got exhausted and stopped taking his antivirals. Stan developed liver cancer, Mike secumbed to kidney failure, and Tim had a massive cascade failure of all his systems.
While it is so easy to allow the pain of loss to make us close our hearts, Beth just seems to keep opening it up more. It's so easy to say - this is just too much - let's just focus on something else. But Beth keeps humor, acceptance and the purest form of love flowing. Thanks Beth, for living out my favorite Saint Francis of Assisi theme - Preach the gospel every day and, if you absolutely have to, use words. Beth really doesn't need words (even though she has them!).
Thanks, Saint Mark UMC, for truly having Open Hearts, Open Minds and Open Doors - and challenging me to have the same.
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