Making things happen
... with integrity
Monday, January 31, 2004 Volume VII Number 5
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by Ken Kemp |
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H |
ow does one bid farewell to a partner of over sixty years? |
They were college students when they met. He played trumpet in a jazz band. She caught his eye. Tall, long legs, a breezy walk, twinkling eyes and quick wit. The year was 1939 – the year of Gone with the Wind and The Wizard of Oz. The world was on the brink of world war, but didn’t know it. Europe brewed in the malicious ideology of Aryan domination. She knew this mid-west trumpet player and athlete was leader material. She responded to his overtures with a smile. After catching his eye, she captured his heart.
She owned it for more nearly sixty-five years. And as she lay on a bed, detaching herself from the world she made better by her presence, he stood beside her, pledging himself to her with the same affection he felt from the start. For more than half a century, they devoted themselves to bring help and hope to a needy world. And what a difference they made.
It would be difficult to measure the impact this couple had on their world. The growth of organizations and budgets and employees would be one method. The global travel, the books written, the number of attendees in the crowd, the money raised for godly purposes. The count is staggering. But their real influence goes way beyond numbers. It has more to do with intangibles. Something about character. Good humor. Winsome expectations. Friendship. Loyalty. Diligence. Consistency. Integrity. High hopes and big dreams. Personal warmth.
Their devotion to each other set them apart. Large institutions owed much of their success to their work. Buildings bear their names. The years only endeared them more deeply to large constituencies. Influential leaders keep in touch, if only to hear an encouraging word one more time. Their marriage inspired many more; not simply to stay together, but to revel in the joy that the decades bring – children and grandchildren and a wide circle of friends.
If you knew them well, you would know they are people of prayer. Their center – a personal and warm relationship with a living Lord. Their foundation - the Bible; their source of inspiration and direction. Their base of operations – their church. Their mission field – their neighborhood and then the globe.
So this week, I got the call I dreaded, “Ken, my beloved Dorothy is at Heaven’s door,” he told me in a somber voice. She’d slipped into a coma. We prayed.
And then the next day, “She’s home with Jesus.”
I can not describe the sweetness of the moment… words can not express the depth of sorrow and love mingled together in such tenderness. I only know that in his voice I heard a measure of love for a woman that goes beyond description and a degree of hope that transcends human comprehension and a peace that surpasses understanding.
I wandered outside into the garden built for Isaac, and for the first time in a long time, I sat there alone and wept.
I loved Dorothy, too.
Ted is thirty-two years older than me. If God blesses me with the same number of years, there you have it. I calculated the year – 2037. I thought for a little while what those decades might bring. I determined one more time to follow the example of my mentor and friend, to make mine the same kind of love story.
Ted and Dorothy taught us how.
Ted and Dorothy's 60th Anniversary
Posted in Valley Center, California
© Copyright Kenneth E. Kemp 2005
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