WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED FROM JIM MURRAY?
Eulogy written by Ben Murray
From my mom, my brother, and Aunt Sue, and the rest of our families. Let me first start of by saying… Thank you. Thank you for being here.
I know that everyone here today is a better person for knowing my father, and he had a great life because of us. We know you loved Jim.
My dad was lot of things for a lot of people in this room.
For me he was my rock, one my best friends, and the greatest father and grandfather a son could hope for.
For his friends, he was loyal, and always the life of any party.
For his co-workers, he was always a bight part of their day.
For his oldest sister Marilyn, or as most of us know her, Mose or or Kay Kay, he was the perfect match for her co-worker and friend, Rita Ann Ross, a beautiful girl from Iowa who had already broken the hearts of many young men. After she met Jim she was eager to lock him down and they had their first date celebrating their engagement.
For his family, he was always there and always loving.
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He was a teacher…
So what have we all learned from Jim?
He taught us that when you’re down, you have nowhere to go but up.
He taught us to try a little tenderness.
He taught us to be inappropriate at the most inappropriate of times.
He taught us to discipline with love.
He taught us that it is okay to have weird friends….. and even weirder family.
He also taught us that a friend is a friend forever.
He taught us how to pick on the ones you love, especially mother in laws.
He taught us that when you walk into his house with family you are family.
He taught us that it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks and to be your true self.
He taught us you’re never too old to get a tattoo or your ear pierced.
He taught us that you can be a brother or a father figure to someone outside of the family.
He taught us it is mandatory to spoil your grandchildren.
He taught us that YES you CAN be a great father, even when you doubt yourself.
He taught us showtunes.
He taught us to be Forever Young.
He taught us agape love, and that an accountability group is more like an acceptability group.
He taught us it was okay to be 98% straight.
He also taught us the no-no square song.
He taught us to let your brother think he is the smartest one in the family whether he is or not.
He taught us to treat yourself.
He taught how to be affectionate
He taught us how to be proud and be confident.
He taught us you can never wear too many bracelets.
He taught us he is hard to beat at Scrabble. And yes, he won his last card game.
He taught us you are never too sick to go to the top of a mountain or jump in a dark ocean.
He taught us to love thy neighbor.
He taught us that no matter how embarrassing he could make his family in public talking to a stranger, he was never going to lose an opportunity to make someone laugh.
He taught us that if you don’t know how to do something… have a good friend of brother in law that does.
He taught us to never lose your faith.
He taught us to never give up hope.
He taught us you can truly LIVE, even when life takes so much from you.
He taught us how unconditional love can truly be, and that it can last a lifetime.
He taught us to laugh in the hardest of times.
He taught us that he loves us to the moon and back.
He taught us a lot, didn’t he.
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So even in our tears, we’re celebrating Jim Murray and the life that he lived to the fullest. For the extra years he gave us, and for every laugh we shared together.
It still doesn’t seem like enough though, does it? How do you close the curtain on someone who loved being center stage, but not before shining the light on whoever we was standing next to.
So to honor his legacy, My brother and I would like to create, with my mother’s blessing, the Celebration of Laugh: Jim Murray Memorial Scholarship, benefiting Special Education students for hopefully years to come. And yes, that is as far was we’ve gotten with the idea, so any help would be greatly appreciated.