eulogy
Please don't cry for me — a poem by Terrie Lee Bain
An eight-line self-eulogy Terrie wrote — the only piece of her direct voice surviving in this archive. Read at her memorial service on 8 July 2017 in Marietta and printed in the program. Her life condensed: the Air Force childhood, the choice to settle in Ohio for her family, her son and siblings, her books and students, her flowers.
Please don’t cry for me, for I have had a GREAT life We traveled the country for Uncle Sam Til settling in Ohio for a life with Fam. I had a son and 3 siblings to love My books and students, so why move? Warmed by God’s sun with flowers my best, But now it’s time for me to rest I’ll wait for the day when we’ll be together again
Eight lines. Her whole life: the Air Force childhood that moved her family across the U.S. and to Japan (“We traveled the country for Uncle Sam”), her decision to settle in Ohio so her son would have a home rooted in one place (“a life with Fam”), her son, her three siblings (Sandy, Rob, and Debbie), the twenty-three years of teaching (“My books and students”), and the gardening that Chuck’s memorial speech also named — “warmed by God’s sun with flowers my best.”
The compression is hers. So is the rhyme scheme. So is the casual confidence of the closing — “I’ll wait for the day when we’ll be together again.”
This is the only piece of Terrie’s own writing in the archive so far.