Sunday, January 27, 2008

Farewell, My FRIEND


The news is out that President Gordon B. Hinckley, 15th President of the Church passed away this evening.  While I am not surprised, I am sad and happy.  Sad that we are losing a wonderful leader who was so fit for this time in history.  I have never known such a fun, hip old person who could handle a crowd of adults just as well as teens.  His cunning humor, his humble demeanor, his sweet twinkling face, his distaste for Manhattan (more on that later), his value of the sanctity of family, his earnest and hard working schedule, his love of people, & his outstanding leadership will all be sorely missed.  I'm happy that he will finally be reunited with the love of his life--what a happy reunion!  My reflections tonight are to the 2 times that I met President Hinckley while living in NYC.  The first was shortly after we moved to Manhattan in 1998, Evan and I were invited to a special fireside where he spoke and on the way out to his car, he stopped to shake Evan and my hands individually.  I have never seen such a vivid color of blue sparkly eyes that spoke to my soul as much as our beloved prophet's.  What an honor to meet him that I will always cherish!  On other occasions while speaking to our congregations with uplifting sermons, he never failed to take a jab at NYC!  He loved to describe her as dirty and grimy!  Just one more reason to love him as a REAL person.  So tonight President Hinckley, I say well done and thank you for all of your tireless service.  I wave a white handkerchief to you...

2 comments:

tenacious d said...

Oh! I forgot the waving the hankies to him! He really was a wonderful man and a great example. Despite not being a fan of NYC, he certainly was our best friend. We thought we'd never get a temple.

Allison said...

Farewell, my friend. beautifully put.