A TRIBUTE TO THE LIFE OF

BELINDA WILDING CRAFT

August 23, 1963 to December 31, 2012

She was so vibrant, so vital, so alive, so beautiful, so inspiring, so charming--and in a random moment of ordinary, scheduled corrective surgery--she was so gone.  The fragility of life was proclaimed in such stark terms.  Unlike a bad dream from which we can awaken and dispel the image, we cannot command this reality to go away.  A pulmonary embolus, with deadly intent and pinpoint design, had snuffed out the remarkable life of one too young.

Belinda Wilding Craft radiated light and enthusiasm wherever she went.  She was always the one who seemed to make the remarkable difference in every situation.  She was an amazing mother, a noble wife, an adorable daughter and sister, a caring friend and an accomplished teacher and homemaker.  How can we possibly condense the amazing, comprehensive nature of one so talented, so giving, so alive with wonder into a few inadequate words?  Hers was a full life, well lived, graciously shared.  Can we ever possibly comprehend the depth and breadth of her influence?  Our regrets only mount as we think of the missed moments, the intended visits, the unspoken words.  But her radiant goodness sustains us in our moment of grief.

My dearest encounter with Belinda occurred on the other side of the world.  While we were serving as a service couple at the Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies, Belinda, Stan and their daughter Angela came to the Holy Land to celebrate Angela's high school graduation.  Their tour group had scheduled two Shabbats at the Center so we had the wonderful good fortune of spending some valuable time with them.  Their family was so amazingly talented that they were "recruited" to present a major part of the second week's sacrament meeting program--talks by Stan and Belinda and a vocal solo by Angela.  Word was received during the service that a parent of the tour director had passed away.  Belinda's comfort and concern were immediate as she encircled the director and his wife with her love.  The decision was made that he would complete the tour.  Belinda and Stan were stalwart in their support of the group--impressive and all-encompassing.  Her expressions of love and caring were so genuine.  She seemed to gather others to her and to reach out to everyone.  She was always smiling, always positive, always a delight to be around.

Belinda brought light and energy to every situation--it was her nature.  She was sincere and real in everything that she did.  She put others first and made those around her feel so loved and so included.  She will be so missed.

  

                                                                               Janet Chapman Cox

                                                                                January 3, 2013

As I contemplated Belinda Craft's life, a William Wordsworth poem that I have known since my college days seemed to so appropriately describe her that I thought that I would include it.

She Was a Phantom of Delight

William Wordsworth  (1770-1850)

She was a Phantom of delight

When first she gleamed upon my sight;

A lovely Apparition, sent

To be a moment's ornament;

Her eyes as stars of Twilight fair;

Like Twilight's, too, her dusky hair;

But all things else about her drawn

From May-time and the cheerful Dawn;

A dancing Shape, an Image gay,

To haunt, to startle, and way-lay.

I saw her upon nearer view,

A Spirit, yet a Woman too!

Her household motions light and free,

And steps of virgin-liberty;

A countenance in which did meet

Sweet records, promises as sweet;

A Creature not too bright or good

For human nature's daily food;

For transient sorrows, simple wiles,

Praise, blame, love, kisses, tears, and smiles.

And now I see with eye serene

The very pulse of the machine;

A Being breathing thoughtful Breath,

A Traveller between life and death;

The reason firm, the temperate will,

Endurance, foresight, strength, and skill;

A perfect Woman, nobly planned,

To warm, to comfort, and command;

And yet a Spirit still, and bright

With something of angelic light.