From Lynda Elie in New York

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

From Lynda Elie in New York

Dear Larry, Roxanne, and Ruby,

So many of us share in the great sadness of the passing of Lisa. She was a friend and an inspiration to so many of us, and the world will mourn the loss of the light and the love that burst fourth from her soul each day she lived her life. She graced us all with her passion for living, her respect and acceptance of others’ true selves, and her natural ability to share her enthusiasm and philosophy of life with others. The wonderful memories she created, wise words and personal thoughts she shared, and the life of love, generosity, compassion, friendship, and joy that she lived, inspired us and brightened our lives in so many ways.

I have so many wonderful memories of Lisa and am so thankful that I, and my family, have been fortunate enough to have crossed her life’s path over the past several years. She took us camping, taught us art, shared her traditions, and invited us along on her journey through life, with ice skating and unschooling days at Bear Mountain, trick-or-treating in your neighborhood, and swimming at the lake, to name just a few.

The list of wonderful activities and memories she created, or invited us to join in on, seems like it could go on for many pages, but what she did best was share her time. She took the time to listen to people with respect and compassion, and then to share her thoughts with love and concern. She gave her time to finding solutions, from the mundane of working out effective ways to schedule all the events she coordinated, to the complicated of searching for ways to consider each person’s needs and interests to create a plan that respected everyone’s concerns. With great patience, she gave incredible amounts of her time to her friends and her community.

We owe you, Larry, Roxanne, and Ruby, immeasurable gratitude, for sharing your wife/your mother with us, for the times you supported her in her pursuits and encouraged her to share her enthusiasm beyond your family.

We will all miss her greatly.

With our most sincere condolences, and with love and gratitude – The Elie Family (Geff, Lynda, Cris, Jonathan, and Jenny)

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About This Blog

Lisa was buried yesterday, February 27, 20008, very near her home in Lake Peekskill, New York. The part of New York where she was "laid to rest"* is just to the east of the beautiful Hudson River and is notable for its verdant, rolling hills. The site where she was buried is, if my navigational skills are intact, in a western-facing slope of one of these hills, providing the viewer with a breathtaking vision of hills and valleys.

If standing on a rather steep slope under a steely
February sky with a biting, chilly wind weren't, um, challenging enough, the slushy snow and ice underfoot definitely added an intensity to the moment. Every now and again, someone would succumb and suddenly slip, even though they were standing still.

Yet, somehow we were warm, all of us there together. (We reminded me, just a little, of the penguins who huddle in Antarctica. Okay. Perhaps I'm exaggerating just a tad!)

The rabbi who conducted the service (I didn't catch his name) was eloquent and impassioned. As Liam's young friend Ben said as we drove home later, "How could he not be? He had excellent material to work with." So true. You really got the sense, you knew that this man knew Who Lisa was. He was thorough and kind.

When the opportunity for the mourners to speak came, I stepped up with my 20-page-long list of messages, some lengthy, some brief, that had been sent from very near and very far. Before I left the house for the funeral, I timed the reading of the whole thing and found it to exceed 30 minutes' duration! And that was with some editing. I felt that I couldn't do that to this slipping-and- sliding, shivering bunch. So, although I was prepared to read all the submissions, I read only one rather concise piece and told folks that they could look at the tribute blog I am creating to see the rest in all their unabridged beauty. You are here now.

For a while, there, last year, Lisa and I and a couple of other local unschoolers (Mary Ann and Robin) were trying to get an unschooling information night going for folks who expressed an interest in learning about unschooling. I believe it was Lisa's idea, and she invited me to participate ~ how incredibly honored I felt! For some reason tonight, after the funeral, I looked back through our email exchanges; we were
working on refining the notices for the event and the event itself. Looking through these emails, I felt a sharp pain in my heart that I will not be having these exchanges any longer with this impossibly wonderful, bright, sweet person.

We also talked about her puzzling, frustrating illness in many of these emails; the illness, by the way, precluded our ever getting this thing off the ground. It was the consensus of the three of us, Mary Ann, Robin, and me, that Lisa and Roxanne and Ruby were indispensable; I felt they could have gotten along without me just fine, but I couldn't imagine the thing without Lisa. ::sigh::

I'm really rambling when I ought to be sleeping. If you're moved to add a contribution to this tribute and you haven't already sent me something, please do send me something now. It'll never be too late.

Sending you love,

Marji

** For the record, while Lisa's body may have been "laid to rest," I believe her spirit SOARS and will never, ever "rest." (Okay, maybe for a moment or two.) I believe she is as proactive in spirit as she was in the flesh and she is still spreading her joyful Lisa-ness now everywhere.

Tribute to Lisa Heyman (October 31, 1960 - February 25, 2008)

Wednesday, February 27, 2008