Eulogy Oenver Milan

Oenver Milan 11-4-2005

Thank you Kevin for that song, “I won’t complain.” For it was the theme of your father’s life in his later years of life. If you’d asked him a number of years ago how he was doing, “ he would say, “I can’t complain.” If you’d have asked him when he first got sick, how you’re doing Milan, he would say “I can’t complain.” If you’d ask him a couple of years ago after he had become a double amputee how you doing Milan, he would have say, “I can’t complain.” If you’d ask him the same question, while in the hospital struggling for life itself, he would have found the breath to say, “I can’t complain.” Those were not the words of a super optimist. Those were the words of a man of faith who truly believed, in all things God works for the good of those who love Him and are called according to his purposes.

The Scriptures tell us Psalm 139:13-16 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 15My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, 6your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

In other words, none of us just happened. We came into this world, having been put together by God to make a difference in the lives of others and to make a difference for God. It’s amazing the different ingredients God uses to put us together in our mother’s womb. God must have been thinking, I’ve got to put enough vivaciousness in him, to make him the life of the party. I’ve got to make him loud enough to wake up a sleeping church. I’ve got to make him friendly enough so that people will flock around him. I’ve got to give him enough insight to keep him vision oriented for the future. I’ve got to give him enough self-confidence and determination to be a risk taker.

I’ve got to pour in enough compassion, to make him a caring soul and a peacemaker. I’ve got to put in enough seriousness in him to let him be a straight shooter in his dealings with other. I’ve got to throw in the seeds of appreciation, that He might always be thankful not only for what He has, but for where He came from. I’ll throw a tiny amount patience, that will grow tremendously once he’s aged with wisdom. I’ll give him just enough stubbornness to keep others from walking over him. That should about do it. I’ll leave a touch of my spirit, that He might know he came from me and one day he’s to come back to me. Get ready world, here comes one of my special gifts to you.

We are all a gift from God to the rest of the world. Life is the process of opening that gift and using that gift to enrich the lives of others. Unfortunately, far too many of us think, that the gift is to be an end in and of itself. All efforts are directed back on the gift itself. Oenver Milan was a man who understood that life is not found in seeking to simply please one’s self. The more lives you touch, the more enjoyable life becomes. In a day and a time, when a good man may be hard to find, I want you to know there are still some good men and that Milan was one of them. He made some mistakes as a father, but he did his best to try to make up for them.

When Milan met Estelle, she had a son by the name of Michael. For some reason, Milan fell in love with this little boy. Mike said, “he became my dad, before he became my mother’s husband.” Milan made him feel special. Then came that day in the driveway, when the father who had left Michael, met the new father who had entered his life. Milan asked him, “do you mind if I adopt him? The answer to the question began one of the greatest love relationships that a father and a son could have. The adoption took place.

Men, Milan showed us that it’s possible to take the word step out of step son and out of step father, and just be known as father and son if you both want it. Milan even saw to it that they were matching outfits, so that when they went down the street together, people would say, “like father, like son.” Without Milan, Michael would not be the man of faith that he is today.