September 4, 2011
9-2-11
One year ago today we were preparing to leave for a long weekend on Hilton Head Island with some good friends. Today we are not leaving for the beach, but looking back on a week in which we said goodbye to a dear friend, Sydney Boone Gaylord. Well, not so much, “Goodbye,” but more like, “See you soon.”
I first met Sydney…hmm…I’m not sure. If you knew Sydney, you’d know that in itself is a remarkable statement. I think it was over lunch one Sunday and we ended up sitting beside her and Todd at the table. I do remember that lunch as being very comfortable, with easy conversation. And I remember Sydney asking good questions, the kinds of penetrating questions I wish I asked more often. I remember Juliana and Sydney talking about pregnancy and babies and our struggle with both. Then in early 2008 both of them were pregnant and expecting little ones to arrive in December. Our first and their third. Ours a girl, theirs a boy. Boone would arrive on December 1 and Caroline would follow on December 18. Both have incredibly curly hair and Caroline thinks Boone is funny. Maybe there’s a future there – I know two women who would be happy about that.
We got to spend a year and a half or so with them in a community group after Sydney’s diagnosis. I got to see how Sydney comes alive in a group setting, how she could engage any person in our group in a sincere conversation and make them feel like the only person in the room. I got to hear first hand about her relationship with Jesus and how the awful disease was making him more precious to her and Todd. I was always surprised that she didn’t seem, to me anyway, to be all consumed with the brain tumor. She seemed to be handling it, as with most things Sydney encountered, with amazing dignity and grace. It was a gift to have that time with them, to pray with and for them, to celebrate with them RV trips and days of feeling well.
One of my favorite memories is of a night when Juliana and I went to TCBY on a date night, only to run into Todd & Sydney doing the same thing. As you might imagine, it quickly became a double TCBY date as Sydney would have it no other way. Todd literally had to escort her out so they could get home to relieve their baby sitter. I loved that about Sydney – her complete immersion in the moment, whatever that moment might be.
I will remember the Sundays over the last almost 3 years when Sydney was in worship. I will remember planning for worship with Sydney in mind, wondering if she would be there that week. I will remember the joy of seeing her or greeting her as she arrived. I will remember her hands raised in praise to the one who sustained her, and a smile – always a smile – on her face as she sung. I will remember the kind words she spoke to me after a service.
And so it was a profound honor to lead worship for her funeral. To pay tribute to her in that way. As we stood on that stage and sang the words of an old John Newton hymn –
Let us praise and join the chorus
of the saints enthroned on high.
Here they trusted Him before us
and now their praises fill the sky…
I knew Sydney was smiling. So until the rest of us join her with our Savior and experience that same happy day, I say, “See you soon.”
9-2-11
