Memorial Service at MCC in Washington 3-28-09

The Memorial Service for Steve at MCC was a wonderful gathering of love, with tears and laughter, and Steve’s presence was felt by us all. I am grateful that I got to meet so many of his friends from the Peace Corps, MCC, and State Department days. Steve was a renaissance man, he had many and varied interests. Each of us know him from different times and it was great to see how all the pieces fit together. The service was wonderful, with special thanks to Leon Hampton, Rev. Elder Dr. Charlie Arehart, and Rev. Elder Nancy Wilson. The choir’s music was blessed and joyful, a true lifting of the spirit. And the backdrop of the MCC window view of beautiful sky and tree was inspirational. Many spoke of Steve’s incredible service to people around the world and shared those special “it has to be Steve” moments. As one of the speakers so accurately pointed out, the main theme that ran through everyone’s remembrances was the “essence” of Steve. Everyone remarked about his joy, his boundless energy, his love and his laughter. She remembered a story Steve had told about when he was a boy: His grandmother said to him, “Steve, there are two kinds of people in the world. People who really listen to others. And people who just wait for a chance to talk again. ... Which one are you going to be?” And for as much as Steve, “Le Bouche”, loved to talk, and he loved to talk, . . . it was overwhelmed by how deeply, truly and lovingly he always listened.

I have been asked to jot down, as best as I can remember, what I said at the service.
Speaking from my heart,

I am so very lucky to be here among all of your dear friends of Steve. To be among people who knew him and loved him. People of whom I’ve heard so many stories.... I am lucky to have known him for so many wonderful years. We have been friends for forty-tw.... forty-some years. I met Steve when we were both sophomores in high school. I knew him when he had hair, I had braces, and we were both straight! In fact, I just remembered yesterday, if I can say this without laughing too hard, that he and I had actually gone on one date together. -- We never spoke of it! -- Many of us received gifts from Steve from all over the world, and I notice many of you spoke of having been gifted a Bible. I don’t know if I should be worried, but he sent me a copy of Dante’s Inferno! What was he like in high school? The same. He always bounded into a room with such energy! Smiling and laughing. I can’t picture him without hearing his laugh. He knew how to squeeze every bit of joy from every moment of every blessed day. And to be in his presence, was to be flooding with joy and laughter. On the bus ride to school one day, he accosted me with “you must read a book called “Le Petit Prince” - don’t worry, it’s in English.” He, of course, had read it in French! “You will love it! It’s an allegory” etc. I want to share a portion of that book with you today. For those of you who might be unfamiliar with it, it is a delightful children’s story about a little prince who travels from his home on a distant star and lands here on earth, where he befriends a grown-up and teaches him - “It is only with the heart that one can see rightly. What is essential, is invisible to the eye.” I think that’s why we loved Steve so much. He saw us, he looked at us, with his heart. He saw our hearts. - When the little prince is ready to leave this earth he must leave his earthly body behind. He explains to his heart-broken friend,

“My star will be just one of the stars. And so you will love to watch all the stars in the heavens. . . . They will all be your friends. And I am going to make you a present...”
And he laughed again.
“Ah little prince, dear little prince! How I love to hear that laughter.”
“That will be my present . . . In one of the stars I shall be living. In one of them I shall be laughing. And so it will be as if all the stars were laughing, when you look at the sky at night . . . You -- only you -- will have stars that can laugh!”
And he laughed again.
“And when your sorrow is comforted (time soothes all sorrows) you will be content that you have known me. You will always be my friend. You will want to laugh with me. And you will sometimes open your window, so, for that pleasure . . . And your friends will be properly astonished to see you laughing as you look up at the sky! Then you will say to them, ‘Yes, the stars always make me laugh!’ And they will think you are crazy. It will be a very shabby trick that I shall have played on you . . .”
And he laughed again.
“It will be as if, in place of the stars, I had given you a great number of little bells that knew how to laugh. . . “
And he laughed again.

I thought of him when I saw the stars the other night, and The International Star Registry has now named a star in the Taurus constellation: R. Steven Taylor 'Le Bouche'. I will forever see his smile, his twinkling eyes -- and hear his infectious laugh! He knew how to squeeze the joy out of every moment, and each moment in his presence filled his friends with joy and laughter. My dear friend from high school to heaven. Farewell. Until we meet again.