Yesterday, we remembered Marjorie's life in a memorial service at Community Church of New York. Marjorie would be pleased, she planned the music and designated certain people to speak and hinted at what they might want to speak about. Below was her draft.
When Community Church was chosen we made it more concrete. Thanks to so many who made it possible.
Order of Service
Prelude
Come Sunday, Edward "Duke" Ellington
Sylvia Wells, piano; Lloyd Goldstein ~ double bass
Chalice Lighting
Invocation
The 23rd Psalm, Jubilee Singers
arranged by Cissy Houston, degenderized by Bobby McFerrin
Opening Words
[why we are here €¦ include reading of Maya Angelou's "Spirit"]
Responsive Reading €" "We Need One Another"
We need one another when we mourn and would be comforted.
We need one another when we are in trouble and afraid.
We need one another when we are in despair, in temptation, and need to be recalled to our best selves again.
We need one another when we would accomplish some great purpose, and cannot do it alone.
We need one another in the hour of success, when we look for someone to share our triumphs.
We need one another in the hour of defeat, when with encouragement we might endure, and stand again.
We need one another when we come to die, and would have gentle hands prepare us for the journey.
All our lives we are in need, and others are in need of us.
George E. Odell
Hymn 123, Spirit of Life
Obituary (read in silence)
Everything Must Change, Quincy Jones
Reading
Let Me Die Laughing, Mark Morrison-Reed
Solo
Eternal Life, Olive Dungan, arr.
Eulogy
Rev. Rob Hardies / Rev. Rosemary Bray McNatt
Tributes
Family - Talibah (aka Tonya Edmonds) and Marcus Alan Wells
and Clyde Elliot Grubbs
Solo
Precious Lord, Thomas A. Dorsey
Tributes
A Time of Silence
Musical Meditation
Don't Cry for Me, CeCe Winans
Benediction
Postlude - Claire de Lune, Claude Debussy
It sounds wonderful, Clyde. I hope it was...and comforting to you, too.
Christine
I wish I could have been there.
Marjorie presided over our wedding May 21, 2005, and she was a truly amazing woman... the time we spent with her changed us. I could not have asked for someone better to guide us with our vows, to counsel us on marriage, and to add the reverence and peace to the most important ceremony of our lives. She's been on our minds lately, and I guess I now know why. We send our love, thanks and condolences. Her love and wisdom are with us! Please know that we will continue thinking of her and of those who loved her.
~Michael & Rhiannon Williams, St. Pete, FL
Clyde: I am writing to let you know that I am living full time in Chicago and attending Meadville. I am working with Michelle Bentley on the Sankofa Archive Project and we have pictures of Marjorie that I have the pleasure of looking at often. I think about how we might honor her in the work that we are doing. I noticed that the UUA has established a fund in her name.
I was sorry I could not be present at the Memorial Service. I had actually purchased a ticket and we sat on the tarmac for an hour and later stood in line for another hour and a half before they told us us they were going to actually have to cancel the flight due to fog in the DC area where I was flying into from Charlotte, NC. Needless to say I was disappointed, having come so far and fully expecting to share the day with folks that loved and cared about Marjorie and her amazing life. I am holding you and family in my heart and prayers.
warmest regards, Qiyamah A. Rahman
We may never know the personal turmoil and the assualt on one's emotional self when one is spiritually traumatized at an early age and survives its ugly rath. Having the courage to love when love betrays, embracing a family who can never protect you or validate you or your outrage... peace, be still.
A story yet told.