[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 12]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 17578-17579]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     IN MEMORY OF MELISSA JANE DELL

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. JOE WILSON

                           of south carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, November 15, 2010

  Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Madam Speaker, sadly Melissa Jane Dell 
of Ridgeland, South Carolina succumbed to Huntington's disease at age 
40 on November 9, 2010. She was the daughter of Ouida and Wayne Dell 
and the mother of Bethany Dell. Her brother Eric Dell, Chief of Staff 
of the Second Congressional District, presented the following family 
witness on November 11, 2010, at St. Paul's United Methodist Church.

                 Melissa Dell--A Life of Love and Hugs

       I would like to begin by thanking God for my sister, 
     Melissa. She was an inspiration to me and so many others. I 
     also would like to thank everyone here today, as everyone has 
     touched Melissa and our family in a special way. I especially 
     thank family members who have been so faithful to Melissa 
     over the past few years and especially the past month. 
     Especially, Aunts Charlene, Linda, Karen, Pearnease, and 
     Barbara and cousins Allison, Michael, Cynthia, David and 
     Theresa. I also want to thank my mom for her tireless 
     devotion and dedication to Melissa and Gayle and TaWanda who 
     would come to care for Melissa whenever called. The last 
     group I would like to thank is the caretakers and the staff 
     and friends of Melissa at the adult day care and physical 
     therapy in Ridgeland. She loved the day care and physical 
     therapy and its people so much. She was never happier than 
     when she was at the day care and physical therapy.
       God made a special person when he made Melissa. We are all 
     created by God to serve a purpose here on earth. Her purpose 
     was so special, and she fulfilled her purpose beautifully in 
     40 short years. Melissa suffered physically more than most of 
     us in this church will ever suffer. But, she always had a 
     smile on her face and hug in her hands.
       I want to talk a little about Melissa's younger years, but 
     focus mainly on the last fifteen years of her life, as I 
     think that is when Melissa truly shined here on her earthly 
     journey. When we were growing up, Melissa was always the 
     ``good'' child. I was the one that was always getting into 
     trouble and she would never tell on me to mom and dad. 
     Melissa and I enjoyed many fun times together playing in 
     lakeview terrace with friends who are some of her pall 
     bearers today. I remember the fun times of swimming in our 
     pool, playing kickball, always being outside and eating ice 
     cream from Mr. Bunton's ice cream truck. She ate so much

[[Page 17579]]

     ice cream that she gained the name ``Popsicle''. She enjoyed 
     ice cream for as long as I can remember. She was an avid 
     basketball and softball player in high school and always 
     enjoyed being around people. She also attended Georgia 
     Southern for three years and I remember visiting her there 
     while in high school. She always made me feel older than I 
     was, which I enjoyed at the time. I thought it was cool to 
     have an older sister who was in college. She was a role model 
     for me in that sense. She was always good at math and enjoyed 
     working in restaurants because she enjoyed ``taking care of 
     people.''
       Melissa also had a strong love for her daughter Bethany. 
     When Melissa could no longer drive, she would push Bethany 
     all over town in a stroller to spend as much quality time 
     with her as she could. I will always remember Melissa and 
     Bethany playing silly games together and Melissa just having 
     a ball. She was a great mother.
       As most of you know, Melissa fought Huntington's disease 
     for the past 15 years or so. This is a horrible disease that 
     my family has dealt with for many years. I firmly believe 
     that God allowed her, instead of me, to have Huntington's 
     disease because she was a much stronger person than me when 
     it comes to handling pain and she had a better ability to 
     show her love to others through this earthly pain. To those 
     of you who have known Melissa, you have known a special 
     person and have received a gift from God by knowing her. 
     There is no doubt in my mind God used Melissa's suffering to 
     show us His love and to further His kingdom. The more Melissa 
     suffered and the closer she got to heaven the more I could 
     see the Cross in her and the more she shared the Christian 
     principles of Unconditional Love and Prayer.
       Just this week, I e-mailed my office staff about Melissa's 
     passing and I received an e-mail back from one staffer that 
     read: ``Sorry to hear this Eric. I will always remember 
     Melissa reaching out to give me a hug as soon as I introduced 
     myself--it was obvious she had a wonderful spirit--that has 
     not changed!'' It's interesting that I received this e-mail 
     after I had already begun writing this eulogy from the 
     premise that was spelled out in this e-mail. I'm sure 
     everyone here has received that wonderful unconditional hug 
     from Melissa. She is now hugging everyone she sees in heaven.
       Melissa was a strong woman who promoted Love and Prayer 
     throughout her earthly struggle with Huntington's and used 
     her body as a temple of the Holy Spirit. 1 Cor. 6:19-20 
     states: ``Do you not know that your body is a temple of the 
     Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from 
     God?'' She couldn't speak as we do, but she furthered the 
     Kingdom of God more than I could ever do.
       When preparing for this eulogy, I found a verse that is 
     very appropriate and fitting to Melissa. 1 John 3:18: ``Let 
     us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in 
     truth.'' This is a perfect description of Melissa. As 
     Huntington's began to overtake her body, she was not able to 
     communicate with her tongue, so she communicated with her 
     hands. To those of you who know her, you know, the first 
     thing that she would do when you saw her was to raise her 
     hands and hug you. It didn't matter if she was at home in her 
     chair, in the hospital or out on the town, she would always 
     want a hug from whomever she saw. She would even do this if I 
     came in the house and she was half asleep. The more Melissa 
     suffered, the stronger God showed us Jesus in her actions. 
     God was using her body as a temple of the Holy Spirit to show 
     us how Jesus wants us to love.
       Melissa didn't ask if someone was poor, rich, old, 
     homeless, handicapped, young, black, brown, or white, she 
     wanted to hug them and love them. If only we could be this 
     loving in our daily lives. Can you imagine walking down the 
     street and hugging everyone you see and showering them with 
     love? Wouldn't that make for a wonderful, beautiful world? 
     This was Melissa. This is what I remember about Melissa more 
     than anything. She could not speak with her mouth, but she 
     spoke way more with her actions than she could have ever done 
     with her mouth. She was showing the love of Jesus to everyone 
     she met regardless of infirmity, class status, race, or 
     wealth. What a model for us to live by.
       Secondly, Melissa reminded us to pray. 1 Thessalonians 
     5:16-18 states that we should ``Rejoice always, pray 
     continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is 
     God's will for you in Christ Jesus.'' God has placed people 
     like Melissa in our midst to further His kingdom. Think about 
     it for a minute, if we didn't have people like Melissa, we 
     wouldn't lean on God and pray so much. God wants us to pray 
     continually, not just occasionally, but continually. Melissa 
     gave us reason to pray continually and draw us closer to 
     Christ. I want you to remember this. When you see someone who 
     is suffering from earthly challenges, think of Melissa and 
     pray. What a great legacy to leave.
       Melissa taught us to love, unconditionally and to pray 
     continually. There is no better gift. Through her suffering, 
     she allowed Jesus to shine upon us and show us His way of 
     love and prayer. She allowed Christ to use her suffering to 
     expand His kingdom. In closing, I say to Melissa, the words 
     of Matthew 11:28: ``Come to me, all who are tired from 
     carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest. You are at 
     rest now. You have served your God and are now at rest.'' 
     Thank you for letting Jesus use your illness to shine on 
     everyone you met. You are truly an angel sent from God and 
     inspiration to all of us.

                          ____________________