New Wine Fellowship Bible Study

Dear Michael, Jill and New Wine Fellowship attendees,

I sent this out to my neighborhood Bible study gals and wanted to include you as our family asks for prayer for the Fisher family. I thought you would like to read the eulogy that Jacob Fisher gave at his sister’s funeral this past week. Tracy was one of Devorah’s Jewish friends. She knew her all the way from 1st grade at Brentfield to graduating together this year, 2009, from Richardson High. She passes away a week ago today walking to class on the University of Missouri campus, (Mizzou), in Columbia, Missouri. She died of a blood clot from her leg that went to her lung. We have been in such shock and mourning for the Fisher family.  We attended the funeral on Thursday at Temple Shalom and a Minyan at the family’s home last night. Tracy was a joy and when she was in Junior High (7th & 8th grades), she came home with us every day after school, Monday through Thurs., and then on Friday’s until it was time to attend services for our family at Adat and for her family at Temple Shalom. Not many children ever went to Temple Shalom on Friday nights, but the Fisher family were always there Fri. nights. Tracy was allowed to visit Adat with us 3 or 4 times during her younger years and once in Junior high. She was like a part of our family from Junior High on. She called me Mommy and even in high school, she would call me from work and say, “Hi Mommy! What are you doing?” After a while when she and her parents began to reconcile and I would say, “Tracy, please call your Mom, ‘Mom’, and call me something like, surrogate Mom”. She still called me Mommy. Tracy did more in her life than most people do in a lifetime. She went on a 3 week safari in Africa, climbed to the top of Mt. Olympus, went to New York City many times and saw the Broadway show and favorite, Wicked, before anyone else. She went to L.A. more times than I can count. She attended Jewish camps in the summer, competed in the Macabee Olympics each year on the volleyball team that her
Mom coached, sang in the Temple Shalom youth choir, was in all-district Choirs many times, the Plano Children’s Theatre, the JCC theatre, started the first Jewish group at Richardson High, member of the B’nai Brith Youth Organization, and the list goes on and on. When she was Bat Mitzvahed, her Torah portion was Genesis 1 and she canted it, IN ENGLISH. She was an original. She was always smiling and had a hug for everyone. If she ever had a burden to bear, it never showed.  At the beginning of the service, I asked God to give me a sign that Tracy was in heaven with him. As the first Rabbi got up to speak, a bird flew down between the buildings and as I looked up through the glass, the bird hovered there for a long time, or what I thought was a long time. Steve grabbed my hand and pointed up.  After the service I asked everyone around us if they had seen the bird. I even asked Mark Fisher, Tracy’s Father, if he had seen the bird. None had seen it but me, Steve and Devorah. I truly believe that is was a sign that Tracy was in heaven and watching down, smiling on us - holding her Messiah’s hand.  There are several newspaper articles about Tracy in the Missouri paper and in the link Devorah sent us. Look under TAM’s adventures oron Facebook at RIP Tracy FIsher. There is another site on Facebook as well if you are interested in reading more about Tracy and the FIsher family. Everyone knew them. They were, “the tall family - Mark 6′9″, Jacob 6′7″, Laurel 6′2″, Tracy 6″ or more and Ethan age 11 also tall”.
Please remember to pray for the FIsher family during this difficult time.  This has been a wake up call for our family to pray and ask God what we should do to take our Messiah to His people. I hope this story will also touch you and also motivate you to pray for the Jewish community in which we live.
Shalom,
Holly
P.S. Tracy loved pumpkins. Please say a prayer for her family each time
you see one!