Evelyn May Laney Campbell
“Grief has a funny way of bringing people together that would have otherwise remained apart. Life has a funny way of separating people that would have otherwise chosen to stay together. Even funnier than that, is how often we find that it is not a crossroads of both we see if front of us.
More times than not, it is a map left blank for us to fill in as we go. An informative legend attached, telling us the do’s and the do not’s. Watch out here for trouble, you can make it through here like this. All leaving us with a false sense of direction as we venture the unknown.
Nothing prepared us for Evelyn’s all too soon departure. When you get so accustomed to the up-down rhythms of the day to day, you start to forget that one day… there will be no more days. That that is what makes each and every day so special. Every day you rushed through to try and keep a schedule. Every day you told yourself wasn’t worth anything because of this or that.
Each day has magic that can easily get overlooked, that when experienced only in retrospect seems bittersweet and damning. Reminding us that living life takes more than knowing time waits for no man, that he isn’t running, but walking with us. Going his own pace as he watches us go our own, through every start and stop, showing us as much patience and hope as we show ourselves. That life is meant to be enjoyed and grief is meant to be expressed, in all grand, mundane, fleeting and forever moments, but never alone.
Maybe not all of us have personally met Evelyn, but all of us have gathered in some way to navigate the grief held for the loss of such a precious soul. Evelyn was the best thing to have ever happened to the Laney-Campbell clan. Unfortunately, in the advancing march of life meant to bring her the best it could offer, Evelyn was forgotten. Now there are no more days with her gentle cries calling out for love and her beaming smiles she would give in God’s honest, sincerest appreciation.
Though regret lingers with every unrealized story her life could have been filled with, there will always be such gratitude for every beautiful moment she blessed us with. Those bits and pieces of happiness made during her stay in this ever daunting world are her beacon of light for those left behind. Those bearing hearts heavy with her absence, a burden she would want none of us to carry.
Rather, she would want us to live so fondly and fully that when she sees us smiling at the thought of her, there is a warmth so encompassing that it reminds her of her favorite place to just be. Her mother’s bosom. Seriously though, Evelyn’s mother has always had such a softness and way of making Evelyn feel seen. So much so that Evelyn was as mesmerized with her mother as we all have been with Evelyn.
Second to her mother’s embrace, was her father’s gentle, surrounding arms with Evelyn looking up and seeing her own eyes but bigger, looking back at her. Eyes full of love, worry, and wonderment, excited to see how she was going to show the world exactly who she was. Evelyn probably could have done without the obsession had for her though. Her two older brothers couldn’t help but adore her, often leading to an overwhelming display of love and affection.
Also, fascination that assumedly left her feeling like a favorited petting zoo attraction. Not that she never got her chance for divine retribution, whether in the form of swift karma, her father coming to her rescue, or a spastic, left-handed baby fist to the face. All things that became so commonplace that now, a life without them seems incomplete and wrong. A life simply just too much as we continue on, waiting for those little joys again.
Always loved and forever missed, you’re in a better place Evelyn, with better company, with big smiles and bigger hugs ready for us…”
A Celebration of Life will be held at 3:00 p.m. on Monday, September 29, 2025 in the Coffman Funeral Home Chapel.
Coffman Funeral Home and Crematory, 230 Frontier Drive, Staunton, is in charge of her arrangements.
