Wife Donna Memorial Service 10-23-2020

I’d like to share a poem with you.

Grief is really just love.
It is all the love you want to give but cannot.
All that unspent love gathers up in the corners of your eyes, the lump in your throat, and in that hollow place in your chest.
Grief is just love with no place to go.

Introduction:

Good evening.  My name is Susan Levy and I am a chaplain at Cornerstone’s Tavares Hospice House where I met Donna and the Burrows family.  We are here to celebrate the memory of Donna Hunsucker Burrows. I extend my deepest sympathies to her husband Phil, her daughter Kara, her son Philip Jr. and siblings Gail, Jimmy, Teresa, and Judy and her many other family members and friends.

Scripture: John 14:1-3 says, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.”

Prayer

Let us pray.

Dear Heavenly Father, you are a mighty Comforter.  You promise that you are present to us in life as well as in death.  There is nothing; not even death that can separate us from your love.  So, we cling to this promise today, relying on your great faithfulness.  Donna’s family and friends love her and miss her so very much.  You have loved Donna with your amazing love for her entire life.  You created her in her inmost being.  You knit her together in her mother's womb.  We pray that you now welcome her home with outstretched arms.  Father, we thank you for Donna’s life.  Our world is a better place because Donna was in it and we thank you for that. 

Dear Father, please comfort the Burrows family and their friends in the wake of her death with that peace that passes all understanding as only you can give.  Be with them today and in the days ahead.  We pray that you hear the cries of their hearts and speak peace into their soul.

In Jesus Name, Amen

Psalm 23 

Close your eyes and listen to the song of David.  Let the words of this Psalm touch your heart and your soul.

1 The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing.

2 He causes me to lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside still and quiet waters,

3 he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.

4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

6 Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

From this Psalm we understand that God, as our great Shepherd is the One who cares deeply for us. He watches over us as a shepherd watches over his flock and gives us all that we need for life.  In difficult times, God causes us to lie in lush green pastures and leads us to beautiful, still and tranquil waters. 

He refreshes and restores our souls amidst that peace and quiet. 

The Lord guides us in trenches of righteousness that surround and encompass us for His Name’s sake.

Even in the toughest times, when we wonder where God is, we need not fear because it is God who walks with us as our shepherd with his rod and staff to guide us through the difficulty.

Even when our enemies; even when death, encompasses us, God prepares a table before us and feeds us.  God anoints our heads with so much oil flowing over us that our cup overflows. 

The promise of God is that God’s lovingkindness and mercy will not just follow us but will pursue us all the days of our lives and that we will be privileged to live in the house of the Lord forever.

Donna’s Story:

Donna was first and foremost a dedicated and loving wife and mother. But, additionally, she was career-oriented and worked hard over the years to earn management positions with two of our nation’s largest insurance companies. She got along well with friends, neighbors, and co-workers but, when the occasion warranted it, had a gentle but firm manner of disagreeing without being offensive. 

She had an earlier battle with cancer and won after extensive chemo treatments and very few days of missed work. She was one tough cookie!  The cancer stayed away for 18 years, 18 good years which she often thanked God for.

Long an animal and nature lover, in retirement she devoted herself to helping restore Florida’s Monarch Butterfly population by setting out numerous milkweed plants which Monarchs so love. She worked every day in her beloved butterfly garden, planted and nourished many other flower varieties, and was always accompanied by a yellow tabby cat known as “Fraidycat.”  Fraidy had been a feral cat that started hanging out behind the family garage. Over several weeks, Donna gradually coaxed her to accept a biscuit and from there a loving bond developed between the two. During Donna’s most recent sick days, Fraidy seemed to sense her master’s illness and slept over in a corner of the bedroom every night.

She was a constant financial supporter of The American Cancer Society and St. Jude's Children's Hospital. She supported several wildlife and nature groups, and especially ASPCA, The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.  Donna was devoted to her husband Phil, to her children and siblings, Gail, Jimmy, Teresa and Judy.

Scripture: Romans 8:38-39 “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Death Is Nothing At All
By Henry Scott-Holland

Death is nothing at all.
It does not count.
I have only slipped away into the next room.
Nothing has happened.

Everything remains exactly as it was.
I am I, and you are you,
and the old life that we lived so fondly together is untouched, unchanged.
Whatever we were to each other, that we are still.

Call me by the old familiar name.
Speak of me in the easy way which you always used.
Put no difference into your tone.
Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow.

Laugh as we always laughed at the little jokes that we enjoyed together.
Play, smile, think of me, pray for me.
Let my name be ever the household word that it always was.
Let it be spoken without an effort, without the ghost of a shadow upon it.

Life means all that it ever meant.
It is the same as it ever was.
There is absolute and unbroken continuity.
What is this death but a negligible accident?

Why should I be out of mind because I am out of sight?
I am but waiting for you, for an interval,
somewhere very near,
just around the corner.

All is well.
Nothing is hurt; nothing is lost.
One brief moment and all will be as it was before.
How we shall laugh at the trouble of parting when we meet again!

Final Remarks

To conclude Donna’s Celebration of Life, I believe we have no choice except to all unanimously agree that the life of Donna Kay Burrows was nothing short of a “Life well-lived.”  Donna, you are loved by so many people.  May you rest in peace.

Benediction

As you go, may the light of God surround you and the love of God enfold you.

May the power of God protect you and the presence of God watch over you.

Know that wherever you are, God is with you.

Thank you all for your attendance.