Eulogies try to make sense of Lauren Failla’s death
Posted by Kevin Coughlin on May 21, 2010 · 3 Comments
When people die tragically, it’s human nature to portray them in the most positive light.
Yet often their quirks and eccentricities are what mourners miss the most; these things were what made someone “real.”
Two extraordinary eulogies last weekend honored Lauren Failla not as saint or superhero, but as a real person with a texture of qualities that made her special, unique—and human.
Lauren, 25, was killed by a crocodile during a vacation in India. Four years earlier, her sister Emily, 24, died in a rock-climbing accident.
This is grim stuff. But the Failla sisters were full of life and laughter, and these eulogies reminded everyone of that, piercing the gloom to raise smiles and yes, laughs. What a wonderful gift, from two gifted speakers who are struggling with the same grief as the rest of the community.
“We’re not on speaking terms right now,” the Rev. Janet Broderick candidly admitted during her funeral homily . She referred to God.
The Rev. John Brantley’s eulogy is all the more remarkable when one realizes the Failla girls were his cousins—and this was the second time he had to summon the strength for such a speech.
If you never knew Lauren Failla, you will after listening to these two talks.
Eulogy by the Rev. John Brantley
Homily by the Rev. Janet Broderick
To sense what Lauren meant to her friends, watch Blaire Reinhard’s tribute.
Another video tribute to Lauren
AN ETERNAL ‘WHY?’
Lauren’s death leaves questions that defy cliched answers. Retired Bishop John Shelby Spong, a friend of the Faillas, cannot explain why this good family has been so afflicted. He can only suggest, with profound eloquence, that pain is the price of love, and it is a price worth paying.
Would anyone grieving today trade this pain, he asked on the Sunday after Lauren’s funeral, if the price was never having known Lauren and Emily and the love they gave the world?
The Rt. Rev. John Shelby Spong remembers Lauren and Emily Failla
Emily and Lauren Failla
These and other sermons from St. Peter’s Episcopal Church can be heard here.
More coverage of Lauren Failla
St. Peter’s is a sponsor of MorristownGreen.com.
[...] death in April, when she became the victim of a crocodile attack, remains hard to [...]