Eulogy

Paul Vernon Deffendall has died
and all his many ladies sighed
he never claimed one as a wife
knowing love should be free from strife
he possessed a jolly young soul
while he worked for his only goal
but finally the Master of Time
summoned him home at dinnertime

A little weird but that little poem is what Paul wanted read before I gave his eulogy. 
He also asked me not to draw this out too long. To him, there was nothing too big 
about dying. Paul never understood why people needed to have a funeral. He once said all
he wanted was a simple hole in the ground and no fuss made over his body. He also 
did not want anybody to give out his age. To him, a person's physical age never mattered. 
It was how young a person felt. Paul also banned all mention of how he died and the 
date he died.  He did not want to have anybody crying. Paul wants laughter and gladness
and a simple time of remembrance of happier times.

Happier times. . . . Let's see. During the late 1980s he ran a little clown show. 
He really enjoyed clowning around believing that in this way he could make the world  
seem to be a better place at least for a little while. There were times when he himself 
was broken hearted, but he insisted on going ahead with his clown act. Somehow when 
he was so down, Paul lifted the rest of us so high into the sky.

Paul's happiest time. . . . He was always happiest when he was working on his poems. 
To him, they were a way to a better world where only his imagination was the limit. 
Paul wrote sometimes to find his own answers to the world's problems and sometimes to
help someone who needed a special lift. He never really understood the talent he had 
for writing poetry or for touching people through the life he lead. 

Well, Paul, that's it. A few simple words and a few memories of your life. You touched 
each of us in your simple way and then just passed on to the next thing that needed to 
be done. Paul, you still are traveling on your way. You will be missed.

Paul Vernon Deffendall
October 1, 2000

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