May His Memory Be Eternal!

Yesterday, I lost a dear person in my life. Fr. Seraphim fell asleep in the Lord yesterday. I will miss him. I met Fr. Seraphim when I was 14 years old, when his family moved to my parish from Australia in 1993. Our church secretary had suggested a few months before that I write to his oldest daughter, since she was my age, so that she would know someone when she came to the States. Over the summer of 1993, and into the fall, we wrote back and forth about our families, parishes, and the school we both were to attend. By the time the family arrived, I felt like I had known them forever! We were inseparable from that point on, and I think I spent as much time at their house as I did at mine. I came to love spending evenings listening to Fr. Seraphim's stories (he was a layperson at that time). What an adventurous life he had! I loved taking car trips with them as they belted out "Waltzing Matilda" at the top of their lungs. I loved coming into their home, never knowing what art piece was being created at the time. Fr. Seraphim, was a talented painter and potter! They became a part of my family. I'll never forget having to make a hard decision in college, and Fr. Seraphim looking me in the eye and telling me I had made the right decision. "You've had to make one of the first difficult decisions in your young life. I'm proud of you." He has always had a way of bringing me peace. Just a simple smile, and that's all it took. I am blessed to have been able to spend time with him weekly over the past few years, and to see him fulfill his desire to serve God in the priesthood. I will be eternally grateful for his part in bringing the Kursk Root icon here, and for the tremendous healing it brought to my family. I will be grateful to him for bringing his family here, for enriching my life with a best friend who I miss every day. I will greatly miss him, and pray that his family will be comforted.

Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.