ABOUT CHELSEA MORRISON
Chelsea Morrison was a wonderful, sweet girl who was killed
in a traffic accident on the Taconic State Parkway in January
2000. You can get to know her through her photos on
the website and by reading some of the items included here.
If you would like to help the Foundation dedicated
to her memory, please click here.
Eulogy at Chelsea's
Funeral,
Written and Delivered by Cam Hardy
I am deeply honored to speak about
Chelsea. I found myself getting a bit
overwhelmed initially, at the thought
of representing so may people who were
touched by her. All of us here today
know the exuberance and generosity
of Chelsea's spirit. I ask you to take
a moment to look around you, holding
in your mind that each one of us had
the privilege of seeing Chelsea's beautiful
eyes sparkle, her big smile that asked
you to smile back.
This is what we now know of Chelsea:
her sparkle, her beauty, her smile
are in and amongst and surrounding
all of us. The comfort in remembering
this, in knowing this, gives me the
strength to express my love, which
is our love for Chelsea.
I find this expression in two images:
a snow angel and a rainbow.
I went to bed on Monday night, as
I'm sure we all did, exhausted, in
a daze, almost afraid for the morning
to come - for further waves of grief
to catch up with me again. When I awoke
yesterday morning, I sensed the quiet
of the snowfall before I saw it. When
I looked out upon it, I was both at
peace and captivated by a spontaneous
image of Chelsea bounding our of her
dorm and onto the quad.
I saw her falling backward in a white
spray, and moving her arms and legs
up and down to make a snow angel. This
was an imagined moment, but also one
which I know was very much a part of
Chelsea's experience of surrendering
herself to revelry. It is one of the
great gifts that Chelsea gave to us
by example: to release ourselves from
struggle by jumping into life, wrestling
with it, reveling in it. She questioned
absolute rules for living when they
left no time for play. As her advisor,
I challenged her to focus on academic
work and her responsibilities - which
she did; she challenged me in my occasional
adult uptightness to loosen up a bit.
Gently and deliberately, she invoked
me to make a snow angel, to let a snowflake
fall on my eyelashes and melt on my
tongue - and I did. She, through her
own struggles and pain, released herself
to live and love.
On Monday, we held a voluntary memorial
service at school. It came as no surprise
to me that the Chapel was full. The
service was a wonderful and very healing
opportunity for us to share our thoughts
and remembrances of Chelsea. She was
remembered by several students for
being the first to reach out to them
when they came to campus as a new student.
She was remembered for her unencumbered
style of dress, her ability to pull
off her outfits because of her spirit.
Chelsea was remembered as a peacemaker,
who intervened when others were not
at peace and worked toward reconciliation
first. She was remembered as a source
of happiness, as a source of strength,
as a source of truth and love. I was
one of many who was privileged to know
her deep love - for which there are
no words - for her mother, Jody, her
father, Carlos, and her brother, Tommy.
She was remembered by those who couldn't
even speak for themselves - our children.
We remembered for them how Chelsea
included our children in her life.
She played along with them and in equal
measure to what she offered her many
friends she offered our children true
affection and care. They, in their
2-5 year old ways, returned that authentic
affection for her.
A final remembrance was by a student
who said that she did not even know
Chelsea well. I'm not sure I can recount
as well as she, but it is one which
I share, for we both were with Chelsea
on Halloween. The school offered for
students to sign up to trick-or-treat
with faculty children as long as they
dress up. Chelsea showed up as a rainbow,
with every color represented, from
head to toe, in some article of clothing
or another. The trouble was that none
of us knew what she was - not even
our children - whose imagination she
could so brilliantly capture. She kept
asking, "Guess what I am, guess
what I am!" and no one could
guess. So finally she got down on her
back and then arched into a backbend
and said, "See, I'm a rainbow!"
And indeed Chelsea was and is a rainbow,
for a rainbow emerges from darkness
and turbulence into light and brilliant
color. It arches all over us in its
beauty and wonder. It invokes us boldly,
it dares us in its splendor to be
playful, to be joyful, to emerge from
our darkness in light and love.
Where does it end?
We offer our thanks, Chelsea, to your
family and to God for the many gifts
that you brought to us. Chelsea,
your spirit is arching over us like
a rainbow and surrounding us in peace,
like the snow that you used to make
angels.
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