Gents,
Tiffany Berg gave one of the most moving talks I have ever heard in my life at Paul's funeral. She bared her soul to all who had the privilege of attending. She spoke lovingly of her husband and of the days gone by they spent running, lifting weights, and playing at the lake together with their family. Suddenly, she watched helplessly as Paul transformed from a world-class water skier into a shadow of death.
She described the financial devastation that befalls a family when such tragedy strikes. She described the tortuous rules of Medicaid that didn't allow a couple to earn more than $500 dollars/month. If they did, Paul would have been denied treatment from Medicaid. Forced into poverty, she was stripped of the dignity of providing for herself and her family. Trapped in a hole, they grappled with providing for their 5 children. She described many tearful nights as she and Paul wondered what to do. When they talked with the financial counselors at the hospital, they advised them to get divorced and then "shack up" with each other as "no one would ever know." In the depths of crushing financial and emotional hell, Tiffany asked Paul if they should get divorced...Paul's answer, "No, it's not in The Bible." To them, financial distress was not a reason for divorce. They lost everything. They lost their home; they lost their cars; they lost virtually all their worldly possessions. Paul ultimately lost his life; but, they refused to lose each other.
Then, she told the story of the widow in 2 Kings 4:1 who was being forced to give her sons up into slavery because of a debt she owed. She cried out to Elisha to save her. Elisha asked her what she had and she answered, "not any thing in the house, save a pot of
oil." Elisha told her to go and gather up vessels from her neighbors and then pour her
oil into all the vessels she had gathered up. She did as Elisha asked and filled all the extra vessels with the
oil from her own jar and was able to pay off her debt and live off the rest.
Tiffany then told of the incredible outpouring of love they received from their friends and family. She told of how friends, family, and even strangers kept refilling their oil jars. Their "oil" never ran dry during their ordeal. Tiffany told of friends who gave them a house to live in. Others donated money and needed items. It was clear, however, the thing the Bergs treasured most were those who gave their friendship. Indeed, the chapel was full--standing room only. There was not an empty seat--or a dry eye. She spoke of Paul's Cobra that he loved so much. She said it was the only worldly possession he cared about. He drove it to the end of his life. She then expressed heart-felt gratitude to the many who had filled their oil jars.
After the service, Paul Berg's father, David Berg, asked all of us to drive our cars behind the hearse to the cemetery for the burial service--FFR's and Kirkhams leading the way. It was an honor to drive among all those good people down the freeway to the cemetery in Lehi. There, I signed Paul's casket and told him I looked forward to seeing him "in the big race track in the sky."
After hearing Tiffany speak, I have come even more firmly to believe, the government is not the answer to our problems. We don't need the government to take care of us; we need to take care of each other.
I am grateful the Utah Cobra Club was able to, perhaps, add a few more drops of oil into the lantern of the Berg family's life.
David
