Lawrence Sidney Eagleburger
1930 - 2011
My husband and I had the great honor and privilege to attend Mr. Eagleburger's Memorial Service yesterday at Arlington Cemetery. Todd has been serving as Mr. Eagleburger's tailor for the past 9 years. So we would not have missed being there but felt grateful to be included by his sons. I can't say I have ever been to a funeral with so many dignitaries in the room.
What an honor to reach at the end of your life with people from both sides of the aisle (Republicans and Democrats) coming out to say what a wonderful man you are and how well you served your country. You see what I heard was that Mr. Eagleburger loved this country so much and served it well by his actions. What I saw was how everyone respected his opinions and thoughts and wanted to know what he was thinking about what was going on in our world today.
You see, when Todd would drive to Charlottesville to meet with him, he would stay and chat with Mr. Eagleburger and his wife about life and things that were going in our life. It was only last June in 2010 that Mrs. Eagleburger suffered a heart attack suddenly and died. That was a hard funeral to attend in watching Mr. Eagleburger honor his wife with his words of affection.
But yesterday, he was honored, with other peoples words of affection for him. As I sat there and watched Ted Koppel, Colin Powell enter the church and listen to James A. Baker, III, Henry Kissinger, Robert Gates and Hilary Clinton talk of how he made such an impact on our world it amazed me to have a small part of this man in our lives.
You see, Todd always had a funny little story to tell me about his visits with Mr. Eagleburger and on the Saturday morning that his sons Drew and Jason called Todd to let him know that he had passed we just sat there with tears in our eyes and heaviness in our hearts.
It is sad to see the great men of history die. It is hard to see men that served and protected our country as I was a child die or grow old. I know that happens with time, but you almost wish you could bottle their wisdom so you can pass it down to the next generation.
I will always remember him, what an impact he made on our lives. He was always in Todd's corner, routing for him, encouraging him to press on.
On the back of the program was a saying that even he said to Hilary Clinton when she called to get advice from him about taking the position of Secretary of State. This saying describes Mr. Eagleburger's personality and his thought process. A saying to not forget....
"As you travel on through life my friend, whatever be your goal. Keep your eye upon the donut...and not upon the hole."
