By Eric Stradford, U.S. Marine Corps, Retired
AMWS, August 2020, Atlanta – I, Eric Stradford, being of arguably sound mind and reasonably sustainable body, do bequeath and bestow this virtual epitaph on all who shall see these presents. Greetings in the omnipotent authority of Jesus The Christ, through whom ALL THINGS are possible.
I have been lamenting over a family conversation since my brother, the late Arthur Lee Stradford prompted me to do something at the funeral of our brother, the late Walter Gene Stradford. What he asked was perhaps contrary to tradition, but hardly out of character for this retired United States Marine. “Somebody needs to take charge here,” said Art. Since I’m the only one around to tell the story, I guess that makes mine the only credible version of the truth. The result was a procession, with family members falling in line and going along with the program.
This week, I’m working on my own exit strategy as family members react to a word on the latest family member stricken by complications of diabetes, perhaps aggravated by exposure to COVID-19, and certainly stressed about the folks we leave behind.
If I may first address beneficiaries of the “Family First” doctrine. I heard this during a telephone conference call convened by my sister Jacqueline in celebration of our sister, the late Ida Mae Stradford Cain. To each of you, I bequeath the right and responsibility to vote. I want to emphasize that any voter who dies before election day is absent from the body and as such, disqualified to vote.
Dead people can’t legally vote. But, among the living, any two can agree on the best candidate to perpetuate your family values. This collective corporate action distinguishes you as “a specific group of people that may be made up of partners, children, parents, aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents -- a group of people who share common ancestors.”
Many families are challenged by perception, often misperception, stemming from conversations among and/or about other family members. The group capacity is diminished by an innate failure to articulate personal feelings, and as such, inherited values. So along with the right and responsibility to vote, I bequeath to “family” my perception of reality as it relates to the words, “I Love You.”
I’ve been trying to say this since I graduated Defense Information School as a Broadcast Information Specialist. That experience endowed me with an enhanced appreciation for words. In 1986, I was stationed on the island of Okinawa in Japan. Far from the Christian home that produced more than a dozen preacher’s kids, I struggled to recover from emotionally crippling life events an ocean and a continent away. My second oldest nephew, Jerome Simpson and his wife Dorothy, offered shelter and a word for which I remain eternally grateful. I don’t often open that Bible, but it has become the foundation for my lifelong learning via the Internet.
Another nephew, the oldest and one of two to inherit their grandfather’s name, is the Jacob to my Esau experience. At Genesis 27:19, Jacob said to him (his father Isaac), “I am Esau, your first son. I have done what you told me. Now sit up and eat some meat of the animal I hunted for you. Then bless me.” My nephew Milton, born two months before me, has lived with his grandfather’s middle name for the last 66 years. Growing up, he was the one with the cute fat cheeks. And, he could “sang” like an angel. He could have been Luciano Pavarotti had he been born Italian.
We once formed a private club on the upstairs porch at the “Big House” at 7419 Wade Park Avenue. No girls were allowed. Milton endured three sisters. I had ten. Milton’s COVID-19 diagnosis, complicated by our common family value known as diabetes, has endowed him to finally get the last word in between Kat’s kittens, ShaRon, Melanie and Antoinette. Romans 8:28 is The Word from Big Milt’s inherited “Jacob” blessing.
Now understand, an omnipotent being would be a being whose power was unlimited. The power of most human beings is limited in two distinct ways: we are limited with respect to our freedom of will, and we are limited in our ability to execute what we have willed. I can only hope to compound Big Milt’s Romans 8:28 blessing toward my own inherited double portion from John 14 “And if you ask for anything in my name, I will do it for you. Then the Father’s glory will be shown through the Son. If you ask me for anything in my name, I will do it.” I didn’t want to seem greedy or omnipotently overconfident with this, so my ANYTHING in a nutshell has become #NoPoverty. I’m going to need just a little help from any two of 2.4 billion believers.
To put things into perspective, “I believe I can achieve whatever I believe I can achieve.” Print that on my virtual tombstone and go find two others to make it so. That’s my story. I’m sticking with it for the little time remaining in my Temporal Economy. I have been in COVID-19 quarantine since February 2020. I have been diagnosed by medical doctors with borderline Stage 3 Chronic Kidney Disease. Dr. E B, my internal medicine physician prescribed Trulicity during my last examination in August 2020. As a benefit of my 20 years of military service, my healthcare is covered by Tricare. As a benefit of making it to age 65, Medicare is supposed to cover that which Tricare does not. My blanket policy is a group policy shared by 2.4 billion heirs of salvation. Blessed Assurance is a guaranteed affordable care policy.
Now before you look to comfort my lovely, or those in claim lawful succession, allow me this final reflection on my lexiconic legacy. I know you love me, now love me like you really know me.
In her ballad “The Words Get In The Way,” Gloria Estefan ministered healing at a time when I felt hurt by people who say they love me.
I realize you're seeing someone new
But I don't believe she knows you like I do
Your temperamental moody side
The one you always try to hide from me
But I know when you've got something on your mind
You've been trying to tell me for the longest time
But before you break my heart in two
There's something I've been trying to say to you
But the words get in the way
There's so much I want to say
But it's locked deep inside and if you look in my eyes
We might fall in love again
I won't even start to cry
Before we say goodbye
I'm trying to say I love you
But the words get in the way
Your heart has always been an open door
But baby I don't even know you anymore
And despite the fact it's hurting me
I know the time has come to set you free
But the words get in the way
There's so much I want to say
But it's locked deep inside and if you look in my eyes
We might fall in love again
I won't even start to cry
Before we say goodbye
I'm trying to say I love you
But the words get in the way
I'm trying to say I love you
But the words get in the way
No comments:
Post a Comment