There was a memorial service today in Sun City Center for Merrill Pratt Thomas, who died last week and who was the subject of a column last Sunday. A lot of of are tourists on this planet. We pass through life like we’re on one of those tour buses, never getting out to meet the people. Merrill, who died at the age of 100, having led a life that took her from rural Mississippi to Shanghai and Manhattan, was one of those who got off the bus and got to know the local surroundings.
Merrill was full of life practically to the end. It was only last year we went out for a rich Indonesian meal full of spices. She was involved with the Community Foundation and a generous donor.
At the memorial service her close friend Sister Rosalie Hennessey mentioned that at the age of 97, she had come to the nun and asked her to read a two page mission statement. “At the age of 97 Merrill decided she needed a plan and so wrote what had to be the only mision statement ever done by a 97 year old,’’ said Hennessey.
The last line of Merrill’s stement reads, “My mission now at age 97 is to be as kind and loving as I can be. and try not to be miserable around the people who love me.’’
Sounds like a mission statement we could all use, and not wait until we’re 97 to start trying.