Iron Maiden: In memory of Mary Pearce

Iron sharpens iron; so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.
--Proverbs 27:17, King James Bible

Whenever I describe Mary Pearce to anyone, the first thing I say is that "she has a core of iron," for, except for her daughter, Sharon, I have never met anyone more strong-willed. Of course, there is nothing wrong with being this way -- as Proverbs teaches us, we become "sharpened" by our strong friends. And Mary Pearce was an incredible friend to me, as well as a substitute parent.

What made Mary Pearce so tough, in fact, was her ability to accept people and ideas. She never gave up on anyone, even if the person was so contrary that he/she -- usually me -- made her head spin. Not that she didn't give me a very strong argument back, not that she would give in to my argument, either, no matter how loud or intense I became. But, she was always willing to understand the perspectives of others. In time, we grew to agree more on things, most recently Barack Obama. It's possible that Sharon and I are now both more conservative than Mary was -- she saw a lot of possibility in this young administration, just as she saw a lot of promise in me and some of Sharon's other crazy friends. She reserved her greatest acceptance and belief for Sharon, who, like she did when she was young, moved thousands of miles away and did what people call "God's work" -- teach. It is very easy for me to imagine Mary captivating kindergartners with trees magically made from paper, her fine intelligence and her beautiful nature. People don't realize that small children are as hard to teach as teenagers -- and I think harder because they don't know what to be afraid of, yet. Children, however, do respond to the kind of love that is both truthful and encouraging -- and Mary Pearce was one of the few people in the world who could be both.

Because she recognized the potential, the sincerity and the spirit in me and in everyone she met, Mary Pearce made all of us feel more hopeful about our futures than we did.
And she changed us -- made us wiser, better and more honest. In doing so, she will also never leave us.