Excerpts from Dave's Memorial Service
Celebrating the Life
of David Joseph Taylor
May 31, 1971 - December 17, 2011
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The "Welcome" to Dave's Memorial Service
Good afternoon.
Thank you for coming here today to help us celebrate the life of a friend,
a father, a brother, a son, and a soldier.
I have known Dave since he was a senior at Palmdale High School.
Many of you have known him even longer.
Dave was a complex personality, to say the least, and we each knew a slightly different side of him. My hope here today is that by sharing some of our personal memories of Dave, we may each come to know him -- and to love him -- even deeper than before.
There are at least four ways you can help share your memories of Dave:
One, write a few notes of your favoriate memories on one of the Memory Cards provided on the Memorial Table and leave it for his mother, Pat.
Two, after the Eulogy today, stand up and share some of your memories -- the good, the bad, and the ugly -- so that we each might see sides of Dave we hadn't known before.
Three, stay with us for the reception following the service and share your thoughts and memories in fellowship with others.
Four, log onto Dave's Memorial Website to "light a candle" and to share your remembrances with others for years to come by clicking the "Stories" tab near the top of the Home Page.
(You will find the URL on the inside of today's program, at the bottom of the obituary page. I strongly encourage each of you to visit this website and to help take part in the building of it. But please visit, even if you choose not to add anything at first.)
Once again, thank you for coming out today.
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Musical Interlude #1
"Brothers in Arms" – Dire Straits
(Available in the Audio Gallery menu tab above.)
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The Invocation at Dave's Memorial Service
This is from the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad: Book 1, Chapter 3, Verse 28.
For the past 3,000 years, in various parts of the world, this prayer has often been invoked at the beginning of a spiritual undertaking.
Now, if you would ...
please just relax ...
and go within for a moment ....
Breathe in the spirit of life ...
that surrounds us all ...
and join me for our Invocation.
Aum
Asat-to mah sat gamaya
Tamasho ma jyotir gamaya
Mrityor ma amritam gamaya
Aum. Shanti. Shanti. Shanti.
Yes.
Lead us from the unreal to the real.
Lead us from darkness into the light.
Lead us from death into life eternal.
Yes. Peace. Peace. Peace to all beings.
Amen.
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Inspirational Reading at Dave's Memorial Service
This is from the Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 2. For those of you who may not be familiar with the Bhagavad Gita, it is a Hindu scripture that takes place as a dialog between Krishna, an incarnation of the Divine, and the great warrior, Prince Arjuna, at the outset of a great war that changed the face of ancient India.
Krishna, an incarnation of the Divine, is serving as the chariot driver for Prince Arjuna, a warrior of rightousness. On the first day of battle, as both sides are maneuvering into position, Arjuna sees so many friends and family members among the opposing forces, that he breaks down, unable to face the thought of slaying those so close to him. He asks Lord Krishna for advice.
Part of the Lord's response is to remind Arjuna of the true nature of the spirit within each of us, as explained centuries earlier in the Katha Upanishad.
Lord Krishna said...
The one who thinks that he is a slayer,
and the one who thinks that he is slain,
neither one knows the truth.
The immortal spirit in man
neither slays nor is slain.
It is not born, nor does it ever die.
All beings, Arjuna, are unmanifest --
invisible to our physical eyes --
before birth and after death.
They are only manifest
between the birth and the death.
What is there to grieve for?
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Musical Interlude #2
"The Wings That Fly Us Home" - John Denver
(Available in the Audio Gallery menu tab above.)
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Acknowledgements
We deeply appreciate the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Palmdale Post 3552,
for allowing us to use their hall, without fee, for Dave's Memorial Service.
If possible, we would like to ask that you to leave a donation for the VFW
in the blue vase provided on Dave’s Memorial Table.
Dave’s cremation was coordinated by the Neptune Society.
Remember to write down a few words for Pat on one of the
Memory Cards provided on the table.
Also, please visit Dave's Memorial Website and add your thoughts and remembrances there for virtual posterity.
Thank You!
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The Reading of Dave's Obituary
David Joseph Taylor was born May 31, 1971 in Downey, California.
He died in his sleep December 17, 2011, at the age of 40, in Palmdale, California.
Dave is survived by his mother and step-father, Patricia and Allen Reid, of Palmdale;
and by his two daughters, Symantha (16) and Sydney (14) who live in North Carolina.
Dave attended Palmdale High School and served two enlistments in the U.S. Army, including a tour in Saudi Arabia during Desert Storm. After returning to civilian life, Dave lived briefly in Montana before returning to California where he worked for several years at Fox Interactive in Century City as a game tester. When Fox decided to outsource their game production, Dave attended electrical school in San Diego. He worked as a commercial electrician in San Diego for several years, before returning to the Antelope Valley where he worked as an industrial electrician.
Dave had spent most of the past year working at home on restoration and beautification projects around the house.
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Musical Interlude #3
"Poems, Prayers & Promises - John Denver"
(Available in the Audio Gallery menu tab above.)
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The Eulogy at Dave's Memorial Service
As I mentioned earlier, I have known Dave since he was a senior in high school. But for the past dozen years -- since he returned from Montana -- Dave was more like a step-son... and we came to know each other pretty well.
He lived with me on and off during those years. Dave became my IT specialist, my gardner, a thorn in my side... and my friend. We watched footbal together (he got really attached to the Chargers when he lived in San Diego); we hiked mountain streams together; and once we even climbed to the very top of a 75 foot cedar tree and sat up there swaying in the breeze until nearly nightfall.
Dave was many things. In fact, he was a Gemini, so he tended to be a pair of each of those things. If you ever went shopping with him, you'll know exactly what I mean. If Dave needed a new shirt, he couldn't buy just one... he always had to buy two... or four... or maybe six. But never just one!
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Dave's mother told me recently that she believed at heart, Dave was a warrior. At first, I wasn't sure just what she meant. But after thinking about it for awhile, I came to realize she was probably right.
Pat also mentioned that Dave was originally going to be named Michael... after the archangel who is often depicted with sword and shield, protecting the righteous. But enroute to the hospital to be born he spoke to her and said, "Mom, my name is not Michael. It's David."
So he was named instead after a shepherd boy who single-handedly defeated the enemy's champion... and eventually became a king. But remember: Dave was also born a Gemini -- a self-contained twin. He shared a pastoral love of animals with David; and a strong sense of being the protector with Michael.
After his first enlistment in the Army, Dave seemed somewhat discontent with civilian life. So he decided to reenlist during Desert Storm and was sent to Saudi Arabia.
While there, his mortar unit was split up for awhile. Dave's half was sent (without their mortars) on a black ops mission into a place where (officially) there were no US or Coalition forces. You know what I mean... "You were never there and this mission never happened!" (Yes, this doesn't just happen on TV and in the movies. It happens in real life, too!)
Dave had told us this much when he returned to California. What he did not tell us -- until after his sweetheart, Gina, died in her sleep beside him on New Years Day, 2011 -- was that while on that mission that never officially happened, the position they were holding was overrun by Iriqui soldiers with automatic weapons. The assault was successfully turned back, and in the process Dave killed several young men about his age at very close range. As a father of two young girls himself, he could not help but believe he had just killed some other children's fathers.
Perhaps that is why -- later as a virtual warrior in The World of Warcraft -- Dave would often create an avatar who was a mage, a priest, or a healer. And as a Gemini he may have been getting in touch with his twin femine side, since his last avatar was a female warrior.
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What are some of the things that Dave loved most?
Here is a partial list we came up with this week.
* Like his grandfather Joseph Ackroyd, Dave loved being Irish.
-- You should have seen his Celtic-inspired tatoos!
* He loved Susan and their two daughters, Symantha and Sydney.
* He also came to love Gina and her girls.
* He loved animals.
* He loved working with plants and other growing things.
* He loved complex role-playing video games.
-- Many days after work, he would come home and devote hours
to the World of Warcraft.
* He loved expressing himself creatively or artistically.
-- You see some of his work here on the Memorial Table.
* He loved music... and movies.
* He loved the works of J.R.R. Tolkien .
-- In fact, he ended up buying the complete works of Tolkien,
edited by his son, Christopher.
* And most of all, along with Susan and the girls,
Dave loved his Mom !
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In the summer of 2008, we spent two weeks touring Alaska...
by cruise ship, train, bus, and on foot.
While we were there, Dave bought many T-shirts. One of them read:
Not all those who wander are lost
This is a line from a Poem written by J. R. R. Tolkien for The Lord of the Rings.
It is part of an elvish prophecy about Strider/Aragorn:
All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.
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Dave and I never hiked in Middle earth, but we did hike from time to time on this Earth. And now his road has gone further on....
Some of you are undoubtedly already familiar with this next passage.
The Road Goes Ever On:
Bilbo Baggins' Walking Song
The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say.
As John Denver said:
The changes somehow frighten me
but still I have to smile
It turns me on to think of growing old.
But Dave won't get to have that experience now.
We don't know why Dave ventured down this last path when he did,
but it may have been as big a surprise to him as to the rest of us,
because on the day he died, before the coroner had even arrived,
Dave again spoke to Pat.
This time he said, "Mom, I'm sorry! I'm sorry, Mom! I'm sorry!"
Yet regardless of how, when, or why . . . Dave has now flown away
and we can only wish him well on the next stage of his journey.
As you heard in one of the musical selections we played earlier,
"The Wings that Fly Us Home," by Joe Henry and John Denver....
And the spirit fills the darkness of the heavens
It fills the endless yearning of the soul
It lives within a star too far to dream of
It lives within each part and is the whole
It’s the fire and the wings that fly us home
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So as you go home from here today, there are a couple of thoughts I hope you will carry with you. First of all, remember that Dave was, among other things,
a Spiritual Warrior. And second, that the sacred spirit that dwells in each one of us is eternal. It is not born and cannot die. This is true for Dave. It is also true for you and me.
And finally, I would like to leave you with some thoughts from Sananda Maitreya. He lives in Italy now, but he was once an American singer named Terrence Trent D'arby.
He put it this way....
Those we love never die.
They blow us a kiss,
remove the flame from their candle,
and follow the smoke trail back to their sacred rest.
We come to collect and bear witness to life,
not necessarily years.
Death is always tremendous relief
to a spirit called to its rest.
A chance to return to source
for some good loving, some repair.
A chance to share stories with our friends
in the other fields of joy.
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Personal Stories and Memories of Dave
Individual Celebrants
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The Benediction at Dave's Memorial Service
By way of Benediction, Daves mother thought this Irish blessing would be appropriate.
May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
the rains fall soft upon your fields,
and until we meet again,
may God hold you in the palm of His hand.
Amen.
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Musical Interlude #4
"Wish You Were Here" - Pink Floyd
(Available in the Audio Gallery menu tab above.)
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Reception