Alana Schacht, 1950-2007
As many of you already know, my mother’s only sister, my Aunt Alana died earlier this year from pancreatic cancer. We scattered her ashes this past Friday in the San Francisco bay. I typed up the Eulogy my dad offered at the service to remember her:
Alana Schacht
1950-2007
Here are some things we need to remember about Alana.
Alana was created by God, made in God’s image and loved very much by God. She was a person of integrity as demonstrated by her faithfulness to her husband, her children and grandchildren, her sister and especially to her parents. Alana had strong moral convictions in regards to other people. She would not steal or cheat anyone. She never intentionally wanted to hurt anyone, or bring any kind of pain or suffering to anyone. Her relationships with others were simple and up front. Her life was shorter than anyone in those relationships with her expected it would be. And we all experienced the pain of her passing. And so today, in loving memory of her, we cast these ashes in to the sea. As we cast the ashes of her body into the great ocean of this world we know that her soul has already been cast into the great ocean of eternity. We are doing this together today in hopes that we might all remember her with positive and loving memories. As the great ocean receives these ashes, our prayer is that God will also receive her soul with great love, mercy and grace. Those of us who loved Alana will keep her in our hearts and minds for the remainder of our lives until we all join her in eternity. Until then we offer up this prayer for her in Jesus name, amen.
It is impossible to convey the depth and graciousness of these words without knowledge of the circumstances surrounding my aunt’s death. My father is a wise man, filled with grace, truth and the love of Christ.
