Allison
Ann Bucy, 23, was called home
to be with the Lord on Friday, April
21, 2006. "Allie" died during
emergency surgery at George
Washington University Hospital in
Washington, D.C. due to
complications from Vascular Ehlers
Syndrome. Following a private
burial, a celebration of Allison's
life will be at 10:30 a.m. on
Tuesday, April 25 at Calvary Baptist
Church, located at 18th and Bosque
Blvd. in Waco, with the Rev. Julie
Pennington-Russell officiating.
Allie was born on March 11, 1983 in
Houston. She graduated from Midway
High School in 2001, where she was a
nationally-ranked high school
debater and the UIL State 4-A
champion in cross-examination debate
her senior year. Allie graduated
from the University of Texas in 2005
with a Bachelor of Science in
Government. She was a member of the
Pi Beta Phi sorority and she dearly
loved her friends and college
experience.
Since college graduation, she was
living and working in Washington,
D.C. Allison's positive outlook on
living and refusal to give up after
her illness was diagnosed was an
inspiration to anyone who was lucky
enough to have known her. Allison
knew her time on earth was limited,
yet she remained strong and lived
each and every day to the fullest,
brightening people's lives along the
journey. She was comforted by the
knowledge that God was in control
and she was ultimately in his hands.
She was preceded in death by the
late Sam and Betty Boyd. Left to
treasure the memory of her life are
her parents, The Honorable Jim and
Carolyn Meyer of Waco and Flynn and
Lorraine Bucy of McLean, Va.; her
grandparents, Dr. James and Helen
Cole of Waco, Dr. Ralph and Dr. June
Bucy of Harrisonburg, Va., Paul and
Jane Meyer of Waco and Walter and
Marylu Raushenbush of Coronado,
Calif. Allie loved her siblings very
much, Cole Bucy of Washington, D.C.,
Jason Bucy of Waco, Mike Meyer and
Brady Meyer of Dallas and Johnny
Bucy and Elizabeth Bucy of McLean,
Va. Allie had special relationships
with many aunts, uncles and cousins.
The family would like to thank Scott
Phillips of Atlanta, Ga. for his
special friendship with Allie. The
family thanks Dr. David Hoffman of
Waco, Dr. Mark Schwartze of Waco,
Dr. Duke Samson of Dallas, Dr. Helen
Hobbs of Dallas, Barbara Gilbert,
R.N. of Dallas, Dr. Carlos Girod of
Dallas, and Dr. Peter Gloviczki of
the Mayo Clinic for their tender
loving care of Allison.
The family suggests that for those
desiring, memorials should be sent
to the
Ehlers-Danlos National Foundation
or
Calvary Baptist Church of Waco.
The family invites you to leave a
message or memory in our
Memorial Guestbook.
Reproduced
with permission of
the Waco Tribune-Herald, Copyright 2006
Remembering Allison
by Sharlande Sledge
The glory of God
is a human being fully alive. —
Iraneus
On Christmas Eve 1990 we lit the
Christ candles in the center of our
Advent wreath at Lake Shore. During
the next few weeks, the Christ Light
became our Epiphany Light for all
the world. It was still shining on
our communion table when the first
Gulf War began on January 17, 1991,
and we could not bear to put it out.
One Sunday during that season
of shock and fear, I saw
eight-year-old Allison standing in
front of the communion table after
worship, looking intently at the
candle. I watched as people brushed
past her, hurrying away from church,
but Allie didn’t move. The organ
postlude swelled around her, but she
didn’t seem to hear. I sat on the
edge of the small pew by the organ
and looked at Allie’s eyes. Nothing
interfered with her intense focus on
the candle. I walked down the steps
and stood beside her a moment,
trying to see what she saw but found
myself distracted by people who
wanted to talk and hurried to take
off my robe.
A
little while later Allie told me,
“When you stood by me at the table,
you probably thought I was thinking
about the candle. But I was really
thinking about God.”
May we pray:
Good and compassionate God,
This morning we are here to think
about Allison, and we are here to
think about you.
We are here to bless Allison’s life,
the whole of it and the wholeness of
it for every moment and fiber of her
being was radiantly, fully,
exuberantly alive. She came into
this world “trailing clouds of
glory,” wrapped in a mantel of
meaning, an “old soul” cast in the
shape of a precious and precocious
girl, and she left this earth
leaning forward into the new day and
new dreams.
We bless Allison – the toddler
with big brown eyes who reached out
to your world with all her senses
and hugged it close and give it away
over and over to each person she
met.
We bless Allison– the little
girl with a hot pink cast on her
leg, riding in a little red wagon,
who with spunk and determination
showed us that nothing would slow
her down, who despite what others
might call limitations, jumped
passionately into life.
We bless Allison – the beautiful,
spontaneous young woman who knew
that the world is wildly alive in
all directions, extravagant and
bright, who dreamed of a vocation
that ushered in God’s kingdom of
justice and peace for every person
on this earth.
Blessed be Allison – daughter of
God, child of joy, generous spirit,
holy gift of our Creator. Blessed
be her life. She lived not the
length of it but the width and depth
of it as well.
O God, from the moment of her birth,
Allison lived as one of your wounded
healers who found energy and life in
the midst of it all, who admitted
her vulnerability and showed us how
to live with illness and grace.
Amen
