By Paul McCown
One of the things I’ll miss most about Carey is her joyful laugh and her sweet smile. She seemed to be able to find humor in many things and her loud laughter was always contagious to those around her. She was definitely a person who wanted to experience life, and she traveled to many countries during her days with American. From Europe to Costa Rica and beyond, she genuinely soaked up other cultures and learned from them. I’ll never forget the weekend that Cathleen and I spent with David & Carey in Paris. Carey also loved poetry, and wrote some amazingly beautiful poems through various periods of her life.
Carey – like several generations of McClintock women – had a bit of a stubborn streak and wanted to do things her own way. This would manifest itself in a variety of ways, some that did not always serve her well. She took many paths during her 38 years, some that caused joy and some that caused pain to herself and to others. As we all know, this world is definitely a broken and hurting place. Since sin entered the world, things just haven’t been the same. What happened to our Carey hurts us deeply and causes pain. It reminds us again of how brief and how fragile life really is.
Unfortunately, our pride and self-sufficiency in times like this often blinds us to the Truth, and doesn’t allow us to accept the unconditional love, peace, and freedom that God so freely offers to us. I know that it took me many years (and my share of pain) to get past my pride and self-sufficiency, and fully rest in this love. In John 10:10 Jesus says, “I have come that you might have life, and that you might have it to the fullest.” He is truly the only way to a real and lasting peace, and I pray that each of you can experience it. It makes me sad that, for Carey, “religion” always got in the way and clouded the view of the real Jesus. He alone is the firm foundation in the midst of this fallen, shaky, and hurting world.
Carey always had a good and gentle heart. I saw glimpses of it on a regular basis, like when she held our children for the first time, or when she was able to hug Cathleen in March after being absent for several years. She loved her family – and her parents and sisters would have done anything to help her get through the trials of the past few years.
I pray that Carey’s lonely days in Mexico were spent reflecting on the many times that God had revealed Himself to her in her life through various people, places, and events – people who loved her because she was a worthy and beautiful person created in God’s image. I pray that she felt His presence in her loneliness, His comfort in her pain, and His love in her heart.
We’ll miss you very much, Carabella, and we love you…..
Carey Marcella McClintock 