Mary Elizabeth Robinson

Robinson
Mary Elizabeth Robinson
Happy 45th Birthday Mary Elizabeth! We are so grateful for 24 years of hugging you; giggling and laughing out loud with you; crying in delight and despair with you; and experiencing love, kindness, and joy with you. Is 24 years a lifetime? A lifetime can span seconds, minutes, hours, days, or years. We cling to the notion that longevity is not as consequential as accomplishments during life. We console ourselves by reciting an abbreviated list of your accomplishments. At ages 4 and 5 you receive commendations for tutoring preschoolers to third graders in the Reading Lab; in elementary, middle, and high schools you compete in 4 Odyssey of the Mind World Finals; at ages 11 to 17, you take college courses at Johns Hopkins (International Relations), Maryland (Physics), Georgetown (Law and Medicine), George Washington (International Studies), and Catholic Universities (Cell and Molecular Biology). You participate in 2 National Shakespeare Competitions and the Arena Stage Playwrights Program; you are a Junior Research Scientist with the Human Genome Research Project (Gene Mapping); a National Honor Society member; and volunteered in more than 50 community service activities. Recruited by top colleges and universities, you enter Smith College ("Not a girls' school without men, but a women's college without boys") in Northampton, MA, as a molecular biology major. You become too ill to continue at Smith, return home for medical treatment, and enroll in Howard University, switching your major to psychology. Your long-term goals include medical school (psychiatry) or a Ph.D. in psychology with an emphasis on the health issues of young women. You have spent many nights on the telephone consoling distressed friends and saving lives. Fluent in Spanish, you look forward to mastering Japanese. You play the trumpet, sing first soprano, and are an artist (paintings, textiles, sculptures, and the performing arts). Your 24 years are filled with accomplishments and accolades. Your life of service to others continues in death through your organ and tissue donations. Twenty-four years equals 8,766 days or 210,384 hours or 12,614,400 minutes or 756,864,000 seconds, which was not enough time. With clear vision and without hesitation, we would exchange your accomplishments and accolades for the blessing of longevity. Your longevity is not within our power; there is no bargaining, no reasoning, no swapping, no pleading, no wailing, no control. There is October 25th, when by sheer will, this 24-hour day spans 24 years. For 24 years we were surrounded by the most talented, selfless, and loving person in God's creation. Please Most Merciful God delay the sunset. Alas, sunsets and dawns are undeniable. It has been 21 years since you went on your journey and 7 years since your Daddy followed. We know that you will join your Daddy at Carnival in Rio de Janeiro and he will join you at the Paris Fashion Show. This brings us joy. At day's end, our grief is just a breath away, our peace is shattered, and our sadness is uncontrollable. Whenever we gaze upon your beautiful picture, our joy is resurrected instantly and hope is momentarily within our grasp. We miss you so much. We love and adore you to infinity and beyond. Your loving Parents Cecil and Townsend, Aunt Antoine, Brother Christopher, Sister-in-law Kemah, and Niece Mary Emma.