Eulogy  for Midge

The Christian poet G.K. Chesterton wrote,

          “Step softly, under snow or rain,

                  To find the place where men can pray;

                  The way is all so very plain

                  That we may lose the way...”

We will not find it difficult to pray today,

the shining light that Madeline Anderson Kenyon

gave off will lead us.

Midge Kenyon never lost the way.

In literature she would have been the heroine:

the girl with the good grades,

who modelled at the local department store,

who loved to dance and play pitch and write long letters

and pull pranks on her siblings.

The heroine with a quiet confidence in her future,

both in what it would bring

and what she would bring to it.

She had a smile that dazzled.

Her eyes sparkled.

Her eyes sparkled in a special way.

The night they met,

those sparkling eyes called to a young man named Alan Kenyon.

He knew she was the heroine.

And she knew

he was her life’s companion;

they shared a birthday, and a passion for home and family;

they laughed easily, and fell together in an inevitable way.

They were deeply in love.

And so they married, on a warm summer day,

in a dress of her own design,

and began the never-ending conversation of hearts

that was their marriage.

In  well over thirty years of marriage,

They never had a disagreement, a difference of opinion,

that did not end when their eyes locked,

and they slowly began to laugh.

G.K.Chesterton wrote:

                   Go humbly, .....it has hailed and snowed...

                   With voices low and lanterns lit;

                   So very simple is the road

                   That we may stray from it.

Midge found the simple road,

and her patience, her resourcefulness,

her creativity,

her elegance,

and her love,

made it one of riches.

She bore five children and taught them how to

live a good life,

by being good people.

She taught as much by example as

anything else.

They recall

that at bed-time she made up stories

and always gave them leading roles,

that she let them lick the frosting beaters when she cooked,

that she was always at their games and competitions,

always volunteered for the bake sales,

that her enthusiasm and knowledge of Disney World

made for their best family vacations.

They recall

that she always had a book she was reading, slowly,

preferring to savor rather than to speed through.

that she held family reunions sacred, 

that she made the best home-made pizza,

and that it was pain she expressed when they made poor choices,

Her sorrow, “You are so precious to me,

how can you not love yourself enough

to take better care of you?”

They recall

that, on summer vacations,

she would dance each of her sons to the table, one at a time.

They recall

that she was as tender of the feelings of others as it is possible to be.

that, no matter how long

between phone calls or visits

she never made them feel guilty,

only sure of her pleasure to be talking or visiting .

Midge Kenyon was rare,

if for no other reason

than that she was

a genuinely happy person.

Content and comfortable

with herself, and her life.

And she exemplified the life fully lived.....

a glory of patient days spent loving and nurturing,

An abundance of laughter,

and gardens, garage sales, daily walks,

craft projects, cups of tea, birthday cards, birthday cakes

and crystal, magical Christmases

GK Chesterton wrote,

                   Go humbly, humble are the skies,

                  And low and large and fierce the Star,

                  So very near the Manger lies,

                  That we may travel far....”

The circle of life spins us large,

Other generations complete the moon’s cycles.

To Midge, her grandchildren, Henry and Haze, were miraculous!

In their presence she shone, more spirit than body.

Through them, she will travel far.

Last year, visiting Janet and Mac, she rose early,

drank her tea and quietly waited

for Henry’s first sound.

The instant he stirred,

she crept in the bedroom

and with barely contained excitement, at 5 a.m.,

she whispered,

“Oh I’m so glad, he’s finally awake,

I was afraid I’d have to pinch his toes!”

Midge Kenyon was true to herself all her life.

And at the end of her life she was brave

and focused and loving and wise.

She made considered decisions.

She drew her family close.

She trusted to God.

Madeline Anderson Kenyon

is the best example I know of

a beautiful life.

To her the way was very plain.

She never lost the way.