Authors: Reed Sprague
“After Eddy died, I discovered that the money she received had been spent; all the money was gone—five hundred thousand dollars, gone! Eddy spent it all. Her dream home, gone. In her papers I found an accounting of the expenditures, complete with receipts and meticulous ledgers. I also found that she spent none of the money on herself. She spent none of it on me or on our children.
“Eddy had decided to provide food and shelter for those less fortunate than she. She considered our little apartment to be a blessing. She often said that she felt greedy when she prayed about us getting a dream home. ‘What about the hundreds of millions throughout the world who live in cardboard shacks?’ Eddy often wondered aloud.
“What I discovered was that Eddy had taken it upon herself to spend the life insurance proceeds on food and housing for pregnant teenage girls who had been abandoned, first by their baby’s father, and then by their parents, and even by their communities and their churches. I found receipts totaling one hundred fifty thousand dollars for various payments for rent, utilities, baby food, doctor bills, and more—all paid on behalf of these young girls, so that they could receive some kind of dignified beginning with their babies. Few knew of Eddy’s generosity and sacrifice. Only the young, desperate pregnant girls and a handful of others knew what Eddy had done on behalf of those less fortunate.
“Eddy’s generosity and empathy were contagious. Mr. Antonio Rodriguez, our real estate agent, is with us here today. Mr. Rodriguez told me just a few moments ago that he was challenged by Eddy to give himself away at a time in his life when he had nothing to give. Eddy had that effect on people. She challenged us to do better even when we believed that we could not do any better.
“Several of you here today received the care I’m speaking of. Others of you might be at least a little bit embarrassed for me, or perhaps you feel sorry that I am not living in Eddy’s and my dream home, and that the money is gone. Don’t be embarrassed for me. Don’t be sorry for me. Eddy’s legacy is intact—her legacy speaks for the person she was. Her legacy speaks loud and clear. It speaks that she was a person of the highest moral and ethical standard, that she cared more for the hurting than she did for money, and that she would rather give to the needy than receive a life of excess.
“When I think of Eddy’s legacy, I’m reminded of our nation and our world today. Evil is everywhere. It seems that we’re losing. Our nation is not here any longer. It died. Eddy is not here anymore. She died. Still, virtue can’t give up. This nation has a legacy of goodness. We Americans cannot give up just because much was lost. The legacy Eddy leaves us is like the legacy of the former United States. The former U.S. is gone. But its legacy will cause a new America to rise from the ashes of the sacrificial fires of satanic evil rites that provided the perverted celebrations for the demons who had their way for a short while.
“But now it’s over for those demons. God is in control again. The legacy of the United States will be the foundation for a new United States. Eddy’s legacy will live on through me, through you, and, more than anything else, through our twins.
“Eddy is gone from this earth, but she is present with God. God gave Eddy a legacy. Her legacy can be used to drive us all forward, never giving up, because Eddy taught us that the only permanent defeat is found in surrendering to evil. Eddy’s God never surrendered to evil, and neither did Eddy. And neither should anyone in this room.”
River and Eddy finally returned to witness its monotony again. It had been years, but its sameness still comforted River, just as he and Eddy had been comforted again and again by it so many years ago. River pushed the twins’ stroller out to the edge of the water, locked the wheels, and stood facing the vast Gulf of Mexico. Eddy Jr. seemed enamored with the event; River Jr. slept soundly. He enjoyed his naps.
River gently placed the large, pink hibiscus flower, stem down, into the water, unscrewed the lid to the stainless steel mini urn, as he called it, gently grasped a pinch of Eddy’s ashes, sprinkled them over the big pedals of the flower, and carefully pushed the beautiful bloom out into the water. The flower was caught by the outward flow, and River watched closely as it was carried out to the east, toward the west coast of Florida, an area that Eddy loved so much. Soon Eddy’s flower was a dot in River’s sight.
A tiny bit of a princess had been added to its recipe, so it was now royalty. Its blood was finally blue. It could now take a stand.
River reached down, removed Eddy Jr. from her secured stroller seat, laid her gently over his left shoulder, covered her with her favorite blanket to protect her from the stiff salty breeze, unlocked the wheels of the stroller, and walked the twins back to his car. He drove them back to his small apartment and began his life over.