 by Dr. Jeffrey Lant Author's program note. Let's get something straight from the get-go. I am not just here to talk about some woman of a "certain age" as the French whose elegant language she mangled would say. I am not just here to talk about someone you hardly noticed and completely forgot before you ever bothered to remember. I am not just here to utter banalities of which said the faster the better and make-do superficialities on an event which, after all, is our common lot and undeniable, bitter destiny. Oh, no! I am here to talk about -- and make absolutely sure you fully understand -- ... one of God's certifiable helpers, an energetic dynamo with an ingredient all we benighted humans need... must have... and are always grateful to get... a smile. This was Erin's great gift... for her radiant smile was manna from heaven... balm in the desert... a ray of hope for better days on days that were dismal... and an unceasing benefit she took from deep within and shared with all... even on days when it took courage to smile and when she could only dream that better days would surely come. For in her smile there was the promise of tomorrow.... God gave her this undeniable power and she used it all her too brief life for us all. Her smile was mega-watt magic... It made the lonely feel they had a friend in a world of isolation. It gave even the most abject hope. It assured the grieving they did not grieve alone. It like so much brilliant light touched the unnumbered legion of the forgotten, the world-weary and despairing as a pledge that they could persevere, they could still grow and flourish in that light, her light. Hers was a smile from which each took what he needed, from the reassurance it gave a fretful child to the resolution and courage bestowed on a fellow traveler down on his luck who saw in Erin's bounteous gift the element he needed to try again. Erin had ample for all. And it was her great joy and honored privilege to give... and bestow the beatitude that was her smile. I am talking of Erin Sims, our dear Erin, who gave so much to so many, her great gift as essential to our well being as the very air itself. Our Erin, now gone, her mission on Earth now done, but not its great results, for they are as a stone that causes unending ripples in placid waters. June 27, 1957 - September 17, 2012, her journey. Any place may be a good place to be born, but some places are better than others, a place of auspicious omens and propitious aspects. Surely one of the best of such places is the Golden State of California, a place of light, air, calm waters and healthy living. To be born in such a place and benefit from its near infinite resources is God's way of smiling on you and confirming His good intentions for a journey packed with promise. Erin's began in Culver City, one of the several districts part of America's great entertainment industry, a city where dreaming was not merely allowed but expected, encouraged. And she did dream, first of education. Erin recognized early that education was the vehicle that could turn her vivid dreams into valued realities. Thus, she made that most constructive of deals; to turn evanescent, fast fleeting time, into the sinews and foundation of the well- planned life. She graduated from California Polytechnic State University, Pomona and then proved her good intentions and clear thinking by taking an MBA in 1980 in Management Information Systems; a shrewd move given the world's massive tilt to information technologies, then but newly underway. She was that "new woman" indeed, a woman fully equipped and determined to succeed in a "man's world", while never forgetting the special gifts and attributes a woman brings to the table; empathy, care, humanity, community. She never lost these or forgot how essential they are to the well lived life, even in business. It was always about the people with Erin and their well being. Everything changed... but the essentials. Somewhere along the way of her dreams, her plans and her achievements, a physician's regular report changed everything; everything that is but her deepest beliefs, for Erin was told of a debilitating heart condition, a condition which could and at any instant might take everything she had worked for, enjoyed, and loved. It was at this time of ardent and profound reflection, where one's relationship with God becomes intimate, intense, and personal that Erin made the greatest decision of her life: to live each day as if it might be her last, for it might be; to find happiness and solace in all the good things around her, and above all, to love; for of life's great benefits the greatest of all is the power to love and so transform the world. And Erin, our Erin, had this gift, no one more. What's more, unimpeded by "what might have been", she awoke each day determined to use this gift, with her special smile always at the ready... and a roiling world needing it so. Thus Erin smiled in the face of everything, a brave human being, courage to her fingertips, determination to carry on regardless her metier and benediction. And so this plucky woman of grace and resolution smiled through her troubles though there must have been despairing moments when resolution was sorely tested... and yet found deep within the constant power to love the world, especially her only child, on whom she doted. Cameron. Cameron, I take this opportunity to address you personally and as your friend, though we have not yet met. For the last few months of your mother's abbreviated life I had the pleasure of knowing and working with her in our unique Internet enterprise, Worldprofit. Because your mother was a voluble talker and as good a listener, our online talks were wide-ranging, humorous, always honest and revealing in ways known only to aficiandos of the 'net. Of the many topics we covered, sometimes irreverent, sometimes outrageous, sometimes analytical, sometimes discursive, always punctuated by laugher, there was one topic she consistently raised... and that topic was you and her abiding love for you, a love the more vibrant and enduring because your mother was a notably lovable individual. You were always her first priority; your welfare always her first objective. She was proud of you, telling me your attributes and achievements in detail, and always with love. We all smiled at her unbridled enthusiasm about you and everything you were doing; we liked her the better for it Now your mother, our colleague and friend, is gone, as we all must go. As you think of her over the many years to come, remember today for this is a festival of remembrance, a time where grief must give way to our collective and sincere gratitude that we had Erin in our lives, if only for a little while. Now I ask you to fix an image in your mind, an image to last you for life, of your mother, our friend, with a great overblown rose in her hair, radiant, talking a mile a minute... and smiling broadly. Close your eyes and see her... and in the background play a tune that could have been her theme song, "Smile"; understand she is singing this song for all of us, but always and forever especially for you, whom she loved the best of all. "Smile, Cameron, though your heart is aching/ Smile even though it's breaking" And remember.... Envoi The author dedicates this work to Cameron Sims, son, and Johan Willems, friend and colleague. When Cameron went online to find help, Johan assisted then and has worked with him since. Johan has also been in touch with Erin's sister Adrian Sims, without whose help this article and tribute would not have been possible. Thank you, all of you. As for me, it was my privilege to write this appreciation, for I did appreciate Erin, feisty, a woman of her own mind and opinions, we liked and respected each other. and looked forward to our almost daily encounters. Now, go to any search engine and find Charlie Chaplin's magnetic song "Smile"; the music used in the 1936 classic "Modern Times"; the words and title written by John Turner and Geoffrey Parsons in 1954. Sung originally by Nat King Cole, I like the version by Michael Jackson. He left us too soon, too. |
