Symmonds served quietly and well
Eswin Rios, director - Friends in Faith Serving Emporia
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
How do you honor a friend?
Our friend, Valerie Symmonds, passed away Sept. 12, 2009, after battling cancer for quite some time. All of us at Friends in Faith will miss seeing her every month, as we have for the past seven years.
Today, I asked myself, why would a high school teacher, wife of a prominent lawyer in town, come and meet to discuss ways to improve our community at churches that, at times, had no air conditioning or heating, even while she was taking chemotherapy? And the answer is just one simple truth: she loved her neighbors more than she loved herself. It was her way of paying back her many blessings.
In our many meetings, Valerie was always soft spoken, an attentive listener, yet outspoken and insightful when needed. In one such meeting, it was Valerie who came up with the “Transportation Forum” concept that has allowed the L-Cat to improve so much, thus helping our community. Valerie was there to come up with an action plan for the Tyson lay-offs, to address the backlash against the Somali refugees and so much more!
There is so much Valerie did that will never be heard. There is just not enough space and we are just a few of the thousands she touched. Valerie was, is and will always be an exceptionally blessed woman. We will certainly miss her!
As believers in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, we know that she has moved on to a better life.
Eswin Rios, director
Friends in Faith Serving Emporia
reddog (K. B. Thomas Jr.) says...
It was part of her character to consider nothing as desperate. May I ask, 'what great thing would you try if you knew you would not fail? Please trust in God and do something.
October 14, 2009 at 2:22 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )