What is the measure of a life? The length? The breadth? The influence?
What is the measure of a friendship?
The terrain? The length? The influence? Why do some people come into our lives for a minute, others for a lifetime and so many, in between? And does the length of time really matter, or is it all about the impact?
Marcia Lynn Harris left this world for the next on December 18, 2019. She left this world suddenly, and the concentric circles of effect were numerous and wide. Family and friends gathered on a recent Sunday afternoon to honor her life and speak about her legacy. Some were lifelong friends, some for a season, some out of touch for many years, but all feeling the importance of being there and relating how her life impacted them.
Ever the party planner, it was a gathering she would have loved…and been the center of. It was missing her broad smile, her magnetizing light and her bawdy laugh. Numerous arrangements of flowers – one of her many loves – filled the space with beauty, and her eclectic collection of jewelry dotted the room…a room filled with people who loved her across years, across countries and continents, across lifetimes.
Around the room we went, sharing stories. There were testimonial letters from a former mayor of Orlando, and consulate of the Netherlands. Frequent descriptions filled the air: funny, a force, light, dance, adventure, magic, fearlessness, curiosity, intellect, talent, intensity, charm, wildness, authentic…traits that spanned from junior high to her very last year. 
There were tales of synchronistic meetings and spontaneous trips to England and Spain. Adventures in Ireland, Australia and Italy. Sleeping in cars on the side of roadways, naked swims in the ocean, and dancing with the prince (now king) of the Netherlands. The central theme was clear: she followed her heart, she followed her whimsy and she made sure to have fun along the way. What a rich, rich life she weaved along the way, and how many were enriched by sharing the adventures with her.
Said one, “If I had done all the things Marcia said I should do, I can’t help but think how much better my life would be.” Same.
As we walked to our cars, an old beau said to me, “You know, you think about the people in your life and ask, ‘Who is there like Marcia?’ And there’s really no one.” She was one of a kind, and she is missed.
That glow of her life lingers on in each of us she impacted. “What would Marcia do?” shining as a North Star of sorts. She’d take the trip, she’d buy the shoes, she’d have the drink, she’d dive naked into the waves. She’d keep on loving well the people in her life.
Whether you’re a legendary basketball star not quite to midlife, or a 65 year-old woman unaware of the cancer in your body, none of us knows exactly when our journey here will end. Chances are it will feel too soon.
We are here just a minute. Love your people. Love them hard and hold them close. Love them easy, just as they are. And let them love you. Life will be so much richer for the loving and for the living.