Hey Now!

Danielle, Jeff, Mother Eileen and Father Jack Taylor, and the Angels; Sistah Carrie, Stephanie, Jennifer and Jill and the ever-present Janie and Joe Nardone.

I'm Poppy, Brad Yates; I'm part of the Hawaii experience that is represented here today in the pictures, the music, the lei's and the feeling of Aloha.

This past September, Elise, Reyn and Shannon and I spent 10 magical days together with Jeff and Danielle at Hualalai on the Big Island. A very special time that brought us close together, bonded forever.

During this time, Danielle was at the top of her game. At one point, I was driving her in a golf cart and she seemed to read my mind. As we paused to appreciate the beauty of a rainbow, she grabbed my arm and said "Poppy, I'm not afraid." In her special way, she had responded to my fear. Latter she would call her mother and say, "If this (Hualalai) is what heaven is like, I can't wait to go." This was Sweet Danielle at her best, able to be present, care for others and do battle with what turned out to be a "mean" disease.

My prayer is that my words today will accurately reflect the love and the light of Danielle, and be a comfort to the Taylor and Nardone families. For the past several days I've been searching for a metaphor that would describe her essence. Eckhart Tolle in his book, THE POWER OF NOW uses a beacon of light to describe the process of seeing through the fog of your life situation. The fog represents any negative emotion; fear, anger, resentment and/or regret that prevents you from being present. Danielle was able to see through the fog of her situation and be amazingly present. Indeed, Danielle was clear, calm and so loving, she was a natural leader, and a real source of inspiration.

Thank you Danielle:
Thank you for being such a bright light, for being so special and for loving Jeff so completely. Thank you for being able to see through the fog and drama of your situation and transcend the pain, to live your truth and express so much joy and love.

I'm so pleased that Vince Gill's music was used in today's service. For the past several weeks I have been comforted by listening over and over to his song, THE KEY. In the lyrics of this song he is singing about the death of his father. I have been paraphrasing the words and thinking about Danielle, "And then the preacher cried, for she's the lucky one, she's walking hand in hand with God's only son."

And, one thing for sure, we know that she is "styling", wearing just the right outfit with just the right hair color.

Thank you Jeff:
Than you for being so strong and so sensitive, you have responded to Danielle with so much concern and passion. We are so proud of you and inspired by your inner strength and character. You have been confronted by the most severe challenge imaginable and yet you have stood up to the challenge each step of the way.

Many spiritual teachers have written about the importance of studying nature to understand the process of living with integrity. I think that all of the time that you have spent hunting and fishing has contributed to your ability to be so present, accept your situation and focus on the love. At one point on the Big Island, I remember thinking that in spite of the sadness of your struggle you two were sharing a life time of love, each day.

Thank you Aileen and Jack:
Thank you for being such wonderful parents, for providing Danielle with so much love and support. You took the concept of unconditional love and "blew it up," so much so that you included all of us. Thank you!

You have given us an incredible gift by demonstrating how to care so completely, be so loving and supporting.

We hope that we will always be family.

Thanks to the family:
A special thanks to all of you that have been part of the team effort to support Jeff and Danielle.

In this moment, we are joined together in our desire to celebrate the life and light of Danielle.

While we all mourn our loss, we rejoice in a life well lived.

Aloha Danielle:

I wrote the following letter to help myself cope with the fact the end was near. I'd like to read it to you now, please reflect on my words and feel the essence of what Danielle means to you.

Danielle,

Word has come that the end is near for you.

The end of your life as we know it, for certainly your spirit will live on.

For us that have been fortunate to know you, blessed as we were to experience your special energy, your love and your grace and we will mourn your loss.

You mean so much to your family, to Jeff and to our family.

You are loved by all of us completely; we have all have a part of you that we live on with us.

We will mourn your loss, but not for long.

For you have been a very powerful teacher, you have taught us how to live with courage.

You have given us the entire gift of life and for that we are forever grateful.

You have demonstrated what it means to live with grace, you accepted your situation and you never became it.

You never quit the fight and you never let the fight take away from your special ability to make us feel good.

You desire for us was simple; you just wanted us all to care, to care for one another, to communicate with love and respect.

We give thanks to you for caring so deeply about us.

We celebrate your life and your love.

I'd like to close with an anecdote from our introduction to Danielle at the Beasy Bash, a week long celebration for Beasy's 80th birthday. On the final evening, after hours of eating, telling Beasy how much we loved her, laughing, crying, Hey, we are Italian, Joe even told his story about Spot, Shannon looked at Danielle and asked, "well, what do think of all of this?"

Danielle's bright lights we on, she smiled and said with the sweetest voice, "I'm still here!"

Indeed, you are, sweet Danielle, you are "still here" with all of us.

Your love and light are present.

Thank you!

God Bless You, rest easy and be at Peace.

We love You,
Poppy