Keeping a Special Lady Alive

I got home last night after a rather grueling week. I fought the late Friday afternoon airport traffic when I arrived and then fought the I-75 traffic coming out of Atlanta. In other words, I was “wore out” as we say in Georgia. My plan was to get to bed early.

When I walked in the house, I checked the mail that had accumulated during the week. One of the envelopes I picked up was from Don Lane who lives near Chicago. I opened it and inside was a DVD and a letter from Don. I quickly realized it was a video of his mom’s funeral.

I found myself staying up past midnight watching the video of Hazel Lane’s funeral that was held on November 3, 2005 at the First Baptist Church of Reynolds. I was in Arizona when she died and could not attend the service. I really struggled with that at the time because she had told me many so times that she wanted me to speak at her funeral service when she died. She said she would come back to haunt me if I did not deliver on my promise.

I didn’t get to do exactly what I had promised.

But I did participate. I wrote a eulogy about my special friend and emailed it to my brother to read at the funeral service on my behalf. Last night I got to watch the entire service and even got to hear what I had written. It was as if I was there.

I went to bed last night with "Miss" Hazel on my mind and thinking I would write about this special lady today. I decided a better idea would be to let you read what I wrote for her funeral service almost a year ago.

Maybe there is someone out there who is discouraged and is on the verge of giving up. Or maybe there is someone who needs to be reminded of what really matters in this life.

If so, let me introduce you to this special lady. When Hazel was a baby she fell in a fire and almost died. She lost her hands that day. But she never lost her spirit.

And she impacted many people along the way.

Let it go on record that this writer is one of them.
_______________________________________________________________________

(from November 3, 2005)

To Don, Barbara, Rusty and all the Lane family,

I deeply regret that I cannot be at this service today to remember and honor your mom, Hazel Lane. She was my friend. And she was one of the real heroes in my life.

When I think of your mom there are some words that jump out at me. Words like grace, faithfulness, determination, and amazing come to my mind really quickly.

Grace: Your mom was a woman of grace because she accepted and played with the cards she had been dealt with much grace. She lived life in a way that attracted people and made others around her better people. She never wanted anybody to feel sorry for her because of her hands. She told me the story one time of how self-conscious she was growing up and how the Lord took that self consciousness away. She believed that God had a purpose for everything and she never backed down from believing that.

I saw another illustration of your mom’s grace when you gave them that trip to Hawaii for their 50th wedding anniversary. You may not remember but I took your parents to Atlanta to the airport. On the way to Atlanta they were attempting to figure out the difference in hours between Georgia and Hawaii… and specifically whether we were behind or ahead of Hawaii. The bottom line was that your dad was convinced they would be back on Friday (Georgia time) but your mom was convinced they would be back on Saturday. Your dad won the argument but your mom turned out to be right. I drove back to Atlanta to pick them up on their return on Friday as your dad instructed. I was a day early. When I finally saw them, your mom’s first words to me were, “I should say I told you so, but I will keep my mouth shut.” I’m not sure your dad ever knew I made a trip to Atlanta a day early to pick them up. That was your mom’s and my secret.

Faithfulness. Your mom was faithful in everything she ever did. You are honoring your mom today in the church where she served so many years with her whole heart. She was not just a church member. She was a faithful part of the family of God… and others saw that. She was a student of God’s Word and faithfully read it, studied it, meditated upon it, and taught it to her church family for many years. Evidence of her love for God’s Word can be seen by looking at her “worn” Bibles. They were not books that sat on a shelf. God’s Word was indeed a lamp unto her feet and a light upon her path. She had an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ. Make no mistake about that.

If there is ever a group of children who can rise and call their mom blessed, it is you. She loved each of you and her grandchildren and talked about you often. She invested her life in each of you and you are the fruits of her investment. Look around at each other. You are successful people. A large part of your success is because your mom and dad were great parents and they invested every fiber of their being in each of you. Think about it. Hazel Lane was a faithful mom and you are the fruit of her labor.



Determination: Your mom was also the most determined person I think I ever met. I cannot even begin to count the number of rounds of golf I played with your dad and my dad at the Reynolds Golf Course. Those memories on the golf course with them are some of the best memories I have in life. I learned a lot about golf but I learned much more about life hanging around them. And I am thankful for that. But I also remember your mom was always at the golf course too. She and Cat Brady could play two rounds of golf for every one round the men played. They would make me tired just watching them. Sometimes those two ladies would play 54 holes of golf in one day. Your mom would have those elastic bandages around her wrists and every shot she would have to wrap them around the club she was using to grip the club. It was amazing to watch. She was determined to play golf and it took much more for her to play than it did the rest of us. On many occasions I also saw those blisters on her wrists caused from the elastic bandages and the golf club. Not only was she determined to play but she was determined to be good.

I was there when she made her first hole in one. (I think she had two). She used that old club she called Ole Betsy. I don’t know how many golfers are in the congregation today... I bet it really wouldn’t take long to count the number of those who had a hole in one. But I can tell you there would be absolutely none here who had a hole in one who did it without using their hands and fingers to grip the club. Your mom did. She did what others could not do because she was determined to do what others could not do.

Amazing: I think in some ways after your dad died I was like an extra son to your mom. I think it was because all of you lived out of town and she wanted to have someone to cook for every now and then. And man could she cook. Nobody cooked chicken and dumplings like your mom… and that macaroni and cheese… Wow! A man that likes to eat like I do could get hurt at your moms table. And she loved it.

Chuck Byrd found an old article that had been written in the Atlanta Journal about your mom and showed it to me and suggested that we get Ed Grisamore of the Macon Telegraph to come over to meet “Miss Hazel” for the possibility of an article in his column. I agreed and called Ed and he quickly agreed to set up a time to come over. I also had to call your mom to see if she would agree to be interviewed by Ed. She was hesitant at first but finally agreed with one stipulation. But it was an easy one. She wanted Ed, Chuck and me to come over and let her cook lunch for us. I will never forget that day. We ate. We laughed. We ate some more. We laughed some more. We ate some more. It was a great day and the article about your amazing mom came out in one of Ed’s columns within the next few days. Now all of middle Georgia got to read about and know your amazing mom. That article was also included in one of Ed’s books. A few years later when I wrote a book of my own, I could not write it without writing about the amazing Hazel Lane and the impact she had on my life. It is neat to know that your mom will continue to impact, motivate and inspire generations to come because at least a part of her story is in print. I am really grateful for that and I am sure you are as well.

But we are all more grateful because the memories we have of her will continue to live on in our hearts and in our lives. I have no doubt that your mom is alive in heaven. If she didn’t make it, the rest of us are in a heap of trouble. But there is another truth.

And it is important.

She is alive on this earth because she is alive in her children and her grandchildren she invested her life in. And she is alive in all of us who were privileged to know her and love her. And the memories we all share will keep her alive.