Farewell Dee Yukon

"Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints."

Psalm 116:15

On Monday, Dee Yukon, the wife of my friend Matt Yukon who died two months ago, died after a 3 1/2 year battle with cancer.  She leaves behind two children, Lincoln age 3, and Angelina age 8.

M.E. and I were talking how Matt's death made us so sad.  This death makes us angry.  It just seems so unjust!  How could this be allowed to happen?  Why?  Why?  Why?

All I can say is that there is so much in life I don't understand.  So many questions.  So many events that have puzzled me.  The deaths of Matt and Dee adds to the list.  They are high on the list.

Dee was one of the most giving people I have ever met.  She would literally give you the shirt off her back if you needed it.  She loved people well.  She laughed often.  She was a great support and wife for Matt.  To know Dee was to know an authentic life of love.

Her greatest hope in life was to have children.  For years it looked like she would not be able on her own.  Thankfully, her and Matt adopted Angelina four or five years ago.  They sure loved that little girl.  Then, against all hope, at the age of 42/43, she finally became pregnant with Lincoln.  The Yukons were so overjoyed.  Their vision for having a larger family was coming true.

That was when the bad news started to pile up.  In the second trimester of the pregnancy, Dee discovered a lump.  It ends up that the pregnancy hormones had helped grow a malignant and aggressive breast cancer.  Matt and Dee decided to do what they could for treatment, but to carry Lincoln to birth.  I know they never, ever regretted that decision.

Dee handled her cancer with such grace.  As she aged, she handled more and more with grace.  I really noticed her spiritual growth over the twenty years I knew her.  I am sure that the stress of Matt's cancer and then death helped increase the potency of her cancer.  

All I know, is that we will miss her.  Please pray for her children.  Please pray for her family and friends, many of whom have the same reaction that we do.  

This side of heaven, there are often no good answers to why.

Dee lived a good life by any measure.  I end with a poem that was true of Dee.

“Success”
Inaccurately attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson

To laugh often and much;
To win the respect of intelligent people
and the affection of children;
To earn the appreciation of honest critics
and endure the betrayal of false friends;
To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others;
To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child,
a garden patch or a redeemed social condition;
To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.
This is to have succeeded.

This is a great poem, but I would suggest one more line.  

Success is 

To enjoy and know God in life and in death.

I rejoice and Matt and Dee have run their race, and they are enjoying their Lord together today.