SPENCER WOOD EULOGY

Spencer, we hardly knew ye. Those words evoke memories of JFK, and even though you were born well after his death, you shared certain of his best qualities. You were charismatic, strong, charming, intelligent, good looking, sincere, compassionate—why, you had so many presidential qualities that, had you finished out your years, you had the potential for great leadership.

Those words also evoke a great poignancy, because your growth was nipped in the bud. Like JFK, your future was so bright, and now we are all experiencing the darkness of your loss.

You came to our law office last school year, an eager and enthusiastic young man. You arrived in a dress shirt and tie, with the politest of manners and a disarming smile. Your attitude and demeanor immediately set you apart from the pack. One of our clients described you as a young Clark Kent!

Everyone that met you liked you, and all of our clients have commented on how organized and “together” you were. We were all impressed by your professional appearance and your strong work ethic, a rare quality among today’s often spoiled, entitlement-plagued youth. You were willing to do whatever needed to get done, whether it was doing the dishes, emptying the recycling or filing papers in court.

Eventually, your willingness to tackle new challenges with zeal earned you a promotion to paralegal and you were mastering your new tasks with great agility. Your earnestness endeared you to everyone who met you and you didn’t mind staying as long as was needed to get a job done.

I recall a particular incident: even though you had to leave for class after a fairly full day of work, you offered to come back after hours to finish a task. Your comment was, “Well, I don’t reckon Vaughn will be too happy having to get these documents ready for court tomorrow, so I better come back and get it done.” And that was your attitude—if the job requires it, I’d better do it! You just had the sweetest nature and always a twinkle in your eye. You were just plain adorable!

Although had a highly developed professional persona, you were also just fun to chat with, when time allowed. You loved to comment on my music and your knowledge of it was refreshing. Your good nature had many dimensions and you were engaging in conversation on numerous topics. How I wish we had more time to complete all those unfinished conversations.

To your parents’ credit, they produced a fine young man, of whom any parent would be extremely proud. We were proud of you too, and you were not even our offspring! How painful it is for us all to let you go, but fate did not give us a choice. At least we were lucky to have enjoyed the true pleasure of your company for way too short a time. But we will always have the wonderful memory of your smile, your laugh and your positive spirit to carry us through.

Spencer, we hardly knew ye. But what we knew, we really loved. You will live on in our hearts forever and remain forever young.

With love and respect,
Sasha Taus