Soul and it is him was impossible to put that connection into words. Thank you, daddy. Heres a letter to express my gratitude to you for a lifetime of lessons, and memories and blessings. Recently he was my recently recently come you said my handwriting was getting too small. So like in recent times, i would like to read this note of thanks allowed. Except today daddy, all of these people have gathered to celebrate your live so its not just you and me. I hope as always to make you proud. Dear dad, over the past week, baltimore and the nation in the have celebrated your life and your contributions to our collective humanity. You were so many things to so many people. You touched so many lives. And that is because yours was one of not only duty but also of service and compassion. You truly saw people. And they saw you. No matter their lot in life or politics. No matter anything that made them different from you. You often said to me, thank you for just being you. You were the gift and i have much to be grateful for. And while you were congressman and mr. Chairman, perhaps your most important title you held in your 68 years of life on earth was dad. First, thank you for loving me before i even took my first breath in this world. I remember you telling me how when i was born you were amazed at how you could hold me in the palm of your hand. Just one hand and just one life. My life in your hands. You and mom literally gave me life and we shared an unbreakable connectedness ever since it is what makes today so incredibly hard. Right now, the words ring hollow in my heart and since last thursday, it is it is this connection and deepening no love that even matter their teaching me the dual power of my beauty and brilliance. This might sound boastful but ever since i was a little girl my dad always told me i was beautiful. That may sound basic and a nobrainer but dad wanted me to understand and appreciate my blackness and fully appreciate ast my rich brown skin was beautiful as alabaster or any shade of the rainbow. [applause] he insisted on buying me brown dolls that looked like me so i could truly appreciate myself and what made me different from the width of my nose to the fullness of my lips and the cornice and the coarseness of my hair. I vividly remember being on the playground in Elementary School and a classmate calling me ugly. Well, myi reported, daddy says im beautiful. [laughter] [applause] i then proceeded to pull out his Business Card from my little purse filled with literally nothing else but rocks and said you can call my dad and ask him. [laughter] thank you, dad for also teaching me to be bold, confident, and to stand in my power. Bestand up against bullies it their over words or covert actions, you did not suffer fools and you taught me not to either. Thank you for teaching me discernment. To spot those with false motives from miles away and to see the difference between Blind Ambition and true purpose and being called to a mission. [applause] thank you for teaching me leadership by example and exhibiting it. And to circle back to blackness and brilliance, thank you for encouraging us to attend howard university, your alma mater. [cheering and applause] he once quit in a speech at Howards Chapel before i irolled that no matter where enrolled, your to wish and checks would be going to howard. Thank you for investing in my education well before and through howard. Thank you for teaching me to persevere. Training wheels off my bike and i went careening down the sleep steep slopes. I remember crying. You told me i could do it and to wash off my scraped little lead legs and tried again. Thanks for teaching me that i do know. You would ask me questions. And lazily i would say i dont know. And he would say, jennifer, you do know. Tell me what you think. You always cared what i thought. From our first conversations to our last. Thank you for teaching me to strive for excellence in all that i do. Thank you for in stilling in me the idea that if i tried to my very best, that is all i could ask of myself. Thank you for giving me an appreciation for the spoken and written words. I remember many a day either in your law office on st. Paul street or at your state office in annapolis, where i could summarize the articles from the baltimore sun. Best score i could get would be a b for excellence and iowas aimed for those. To summary writing lead writing for School Newspapers and the career in communications i have now. It is no coincidence, it was preparation. For seeing me. U i saw you. Thank you for nurturing me. I think i nurtured you in return. Thank you for loving me unconditionally and teaching me what love and leadership are by your example. I will miss your smile. Your great big smile that could light up a room. I will miss your booming voice that would firmly sound jennifer, when i do i was in trouble. I will also miss the voice that was just quiet and plain saying things like jen, can you plug in my phone . I will miss calling you after seeing you on tv to tell you what a great job you did and maybe share a couple of pieces of constructive feedback for your consideration because you always strived to be better than the day before. Au encouraged me to have point of view and a thoughtful critique. I will miss you calling me before don on my birthday to sing your very special renditions of happy birthday complete with a lot of riffs and soul but perhaps not a steady tune. Miss our exchanging christmas presents and you immediately trying on whatever sweater or under armour t that was part of the gift. I will miss opening presents from you and hearing you say i saw it and it looked like you. I will miss having brunch. Just as two or you and me and adia or you and me and mom. Ordering dessert. I started getting bubble blown ice cream, because i thought if i am what i would give for just an afternoon at the harbor with you. You can have all of the ice cream, dad. I will miss the way you squeezed hup on pretty much everything but especially the fries that ended up with tomatoey goodness at the bottom. I will miss our brief conversations between meetings and hearings. I will miss a longer ones. I will miss our months of long sleepovers where we would just hung out and discuss the latest in our lives. We would watch the latest 2020 murder mystery. That is love, enduring love. Dad and just sad daughter, we were confidants and friends. And daddy, i will miss that the most. So on this day after so much has been said and this week of celebrations of your life. I am stopping by today to tell you how much i love you and how i will forever be indebted and connected to you. That does not change from this life to the next. Our love indoors. Rest well and easy daddy. You deserve it. I know our conversations and connections will not be in person anymore that they will be just as they always have been filled with heart, spirit, and soul. I love you, dad. Thank you. [applause] good morning everyone. You will have to forgive me. Im reading off my phone. I am a millennial after all. I want to thank everyone for being here. It means the world to my family father,what our brother, uncle, son meant to his community and colleagues. To his staff say can you please stand up if you are here . [applause] [cheering] they deserve this. Personally thank all of you. Way that you loved my father makes us family forever and i am so sorry that you lost someone that was so much more than a boss to you. So, i am confident that everyone in this room today knows exactly the type of man my father was. If you did not come you would not be here. He was a passionate leader. A dependable friend. And an unrelenting voice for change. State,sion for his city, and country was evident in his practices and policies. His colleagues have spoken over the past week and today about what an honor and a privilege it was to serve with him. Were fortunate enough to hold the highest honor which was being able to call him dad. And i would be remiss if i did not share a glimpse of what it was like to be his daughter. Say to me,d sometimes at 3 00 a. M. Just to tell me he was out of me or to give me words of encouragement. Whenever i called, he always and ied hey, beautiful could tell he was happy to hear from me and he was never hesitant to give his opinion whether asked for or not and was quick to remind me at any given moment that i owed him some money. [laughter] he was not a father known for patients. But rather for persistence. When i was getting ready to take my driving test, he made me Parallel Park what felt like 50 times in a row until i got it down to a science and i could not do it wrong. That was af and very long day but i passed my test on the very first try. [applause] always held me accountable and made sure that if i said i was going to do something, that i did it. And always encouraged me to be more giving. He instilled in me the same principles that my grandparents instilled in him. Integrity, service, and humility. Him withome to anything, ask him for anything even cardi b tickets. He did not really know who she was but he went out of his way even from his sick to make sure i could go see her. He believed in me. He believed in my dreams as if they were already a reality. He was never afraid to invest time, money, and wisdom into anything i aspired to be. Andas genuinely invested committed to my happiness and wellbeing at all times. Last year, i gave him a card for fathers day that said a parents job is to see their child the way god sees them and you do that for me. And i would encourage all the parents here and watching to see the way might that saw me and the way god sees me. Without limitations. Or bound by obstacles circumstances. And with the power to determine my own destiny. [applause] medad not only encouraged to , he empowered to me. Tollsipped me with the that have prepared me to stand with you here today and he made it his life mission to ensure that every child in the country was as equally equipped. We owe it to him, i owe it to him to not let his lifes work go invading. Go in vain. [applause] speech onamous first the house floor come he recited his favorite poem just a minute. As i moldova which words to say today, i heard a song playing on the radio that embodied the same spirit. Eminem s of [laughter] you own it. T you only get one shot to not miss your chance. The opportunity only comes once in a lifetime. My father his moment and because of that we my father seized his moment and because of that we are all gathered here today. [applause] and to all of you, when the time comes, i hope that you seize yours as well. Thank you. I love you back. [applause] god is good. I come before you this morning with a very heavy heart. Elijah was my older brother by three years. That atn tell you now times it was easy and at other times it was not. I followed him into middle school and the teachers expected so much of me. The seventh grade social studies class the teacher said you are Elijah Cummings brother . Said said, yes, sir and he i expect a lot from you. Him bobby and the family called him bobby. Weple have asked me why called him that and it was because his godmother did not like the name of elisha. If you dont mind, i will refer to him as bobby from now on because that is what i called him for the last 64 years. He wanted me was to go to city high school. My name is james. Al forey called me o short. He really that he said you really should go to city. It is an all boys school and you will have no distractions. Bobbysaid robbie, i , i love distractions. [laughter] said, i cannot concentrate without distractions. That is when he taught me the definition of ironic. He was a great brother and we will miss him dearly. I want to thank the city of baltimore, Speaker Pelosi for the service yesterday and the comments made. It was a beautiful service. I am going to miss him dearly. And the last thing i want to say is when i was leaving his home yesterday after returning back from washington, i was getting into my car and there was a gentleman sitting on the steps. And he asked me where are you coming from . And i told him for my brothers house. He was so apologetic, he said i am so sorry. Felt really bad and wanted to give me a hug. I will do anything you need me to do. I will cut your grass. And iwhere i lived said virginia. [laughter] yes. He said he thought for a second or two and he said well, that might be a problem. He did say that he would meet me at the gates. He said he would have something for me. But i thought that was the nicest thing. He was the type of person that elijah loved. Was not the type of person that would look up to people and want to be so high. He wanted to be in a position to help people that cannot help themselves. [applause] so, again, i just want to thank everybody. My niece already thanked the staff. I was going to thank them because in one of my last meetings with elijah, i spent an entire sunday with him about four weeks ago which really was the last time i had seen him. I spent last sunday with him watching the chiefs play the ravens and the ravens lost. He had a question for me. And the question was for those of you that do not know, i lost a son. My son was killed about eight years ago. Oldas a student at dominion. That has haunted elijah. He asked me why did christopher go to old dominion . Well, because his friends went there and he wanted to go with his friends. And he said man, i wish he had not gone to old dominion. He has told me that many times that it broke his heart that my son was killed. The thing that he took to his grave was the lack of resolution to my sons death. I want to thank each and every one of you because you can give someone your car and let them borrow your keys or home or clothing but the one thing you cannot get back is time. And each and every one of you has given up hours of your time to honor my brother and for that, i am eternally grateful. Thank you. [applause] [background sounds] good morning everybody. My name is john alexander. We have lost a giant and an incredible friend. I am honored to be here this morning to see a few words about my friend, congressman Elijah Cummings. We have already some beautiful eulogies about this great man but im going to try to tell you something that maybe you did not know. He used to tease me relentlessly. Like you, president clinton, he called me an honorary brother. [laughter] i met congressman cummings in 1996. On hisucky enough to be first legislative staff and for the next 23 years, we developed a very close personal relationship. We met almost weekly for lunch to discuss family, politics, books, life and even the ravens and the orioles. Lateay, mr. Cummings was was in thend this infancy of cell phones and i could not reach him. Later in the day, one of my colleagues came up to me and said i saw your boss changing a tire on route 95. [laughter] excuse me . I95 changingn the tire of someone. He never said why he was late and that was just the way he was. Saiddirt cummings always 80 of life is showing up. All of you had somewhere else to be today but you are here. Teach that to my son who is 16 and here today. I took him out of school. Think that is an excused absence. [applause] i see many of my colleagues and friends here today. And i hope i can very a bit of as well. Gs in my talk and we all had a very special relationship with this great man. I see a lot of friends from his early political base. Those that saw his potential, those that urged him to run for congress and i see friends who served him during his journey and i am truly, truly grateful for this opportunity to speak. He always said he was an ordinary man doing an extraordinary job. However, he was not an ordinary man. He was a brilliant man. He was born to lead. And he served for all of the right reasons. [applause] he was a gifted oratory. He could make audiences shout with enthusiasm and cry at the same time. He was a voice of moral leadership. He had a wonderful sense of humor. He had an infectious laugh. You could not help but laugh with him once he started laughing. He was a humble man. He never professed to know it all. He was always learning. Always studying. Questions. Ng he genuinely cared about people and his staff. About 20 years ago, i was unhappy in a job. Almost between jobs and i called congressman cummings wanting some advice. I was about to quit my job. And i will never forget the words he said to me that day. I will not let you fall. I will not let you fall. [applause] he spoke of the kitchen crowd. People during parties and gatherings and he would hang out in the kitchen and complain. He was a kitchen crowd guy. He was genuinely not concerned or motivated by money or titles. He was a man who straddled two worlds. Maybe i helped him bridge the gap from inner baltimore and state legislature to the halls of congress, maybe he leaned on me that way in the beginning. But he held me also. Understand the world through the eyes of an africanamerican man. He taught me lifelong lessons on love,sion, humility, family, and god. I will miss his fatherly advice. I will miss his brotherly love. I will miss his wisdom and compassion. Died he attended the funeral. He took the time and called my mother. And when i was struggling with the death of my father, he spoke to me about a musical he loved. One in which i saw with him for the first time, the lion king. Remember these words . He lives in you. He lives in me. He watches over everything we see. Truth,e water, into the in your reflection, he lives in you. And if i have a message to everyone today when you leave this beautiful church, when we face the challenges and temptations of everyday life saying do i want to be part of the kitchen crowd . What would congressman cummings do in this situation . Please honor the memory of this good man. Open the door for someone. Carry someones groceries. Shovel your neighbors walk. Be a mentor to a young person. Maybe stop and change someones tire. Thank you. [applause] good morning. The first time i met congressman cummings, we stood together far here to callom attention to the 20 year difference in life expectancies across our city. The do then us to work that is so much bigger than us. That is about our children and the generations yet unborn. When we finished, he wrote down his number and he leaned close and said call me. I will help you with whatever you need to help our city. And he did. Whenever we needed funding for health,ealth, dental and the programs to help our residents, congressman cummings fought for us and he got us the resources. [applause] he told everyone how in how we in baltimore are effective and efficient. [applause] how what we do is about saving lives. Tocame to countless events speak on the Opioid Epidemic because we needed his moral authority to overcome stigma and treat addiction as the disease that it is. [applause] time, he would speak to every member of my team to say, thank you. He would say thank you for turning your pain into your passion that is your purpose and he told them, as i heard him tell his staff home he loved so much, the young people that he meant toward he would say, i want you to replace me someday and he looked right at each person and in his presence we know that we are seen. We are heard. And we matter. [applause] when i suffered a personal tragedy, a miscarriage, he wrote to me to say that he and maia were there for me. When i went through other challenging times, he reminded me that for every season, there is a reason. That reason. T know and there is a lot that we cannot control. But what is in our control is how we choose to live the life that we have and how we must always let our conscience guide our conduct. [applause] baby, eventually had my he quoted a poet Carl Stanford that a baby is gods opinion that life should go on. And he thanked me for helping god deliver this powerful message. And when i told congressman cummings that my husband and i decided to name that baby, our son come after him [applause] when i told him, he cried. Now two. I is and we are expecting his baby sister in a few months. Been few months in his life when i have not gotten some message or call asking about him. How is the baby he saved . How is little eli doing . Lastuld be the conversation i had with him and i told him how blessed i have been to have his mentorship. And he said, i and the one who is blessed. Because you are part of my destiny. As i am a part of yours. Partf us here are forever of congressman cummings destiny as he is forever a part of hours. All of us who are fortunate to call him our friend, colleague, and mentor, all that are fortunate to love and be loved by him, he challenged us to be better and we are all better for knowing him. Now today, we feel the deep pain over his loss. The deep pain for his one and only beloved maia, for his daughters that he always called the gift that keeps on giving. For his entire family home he loved so deeply. Theeel the deep chain for loss of this great man who has touched every part of our city and everyone in our city. [applause] i believe that congressman cummings would ask us to turn that pain into our passion that is our purpose. I believe he would ask us to honor his life legacy by carrying on his life work and making it our own. I believe he would ask us to call upon our better angels and think about the work that is bigger than us. So much bigger than us. It is about our children and the generations yet unborn. It is about fulfilling our shared destiny to fight for the world as it should be. The congressman Elijah Eugene cummings we love you. We thank you. May we be worthy of you. And may you rest in peace. [applause] [background sounds] all glory togive god. To the family, respected dignitaries, and extended friends, i sincerely appreciate the honor and privilege to express my deep appreciation for my friend, congressman Elijah Cummings. The remarks that i will give on today are entitled the final lesson. ,hen i think of the congressman i am reminded of a quote from bruce lee. Bruce lee once said the key a lifertality is living worth remembering. The congressman asked me one day , to drive him to d. C. For meetings and votes. At first, this i thought this would be a temporary assignment that would last a few days. [laughter] little did i know that it would turn into two and a half years of working with an angel. [applause] suddenly my life transformed to a bodyguard, mechanic, advisor, driver, chef the congressman would ask what are we eating for lunch . And most importantly, friend. I worked with a congressman for 15 years and he always took the time to teach me and the staff valuable life lessons. However, the last two and a half years were different. He once told me, if you give me five minutes, i can teach you something it took me 20 years to learn. Let that marinade for a second. Most of the lessons you may think were verbal but i learned more from watching the congressman than i did in conversation. Lesson number one. Compassion and kindness the congressman believed that empathy resided in all of us. He thought that compassion and kindness brought us closer to god. He believed that those attributes where the keys to uniting the human spirit. Lesson number two. The congressman believed in bridges. He knew that an opportunity, no , made how big or small the difference between life or death and a persons matriculation into the world. As we traveled together, i always met someone that was grateful to the congressman, took interest in their life and had he not, they would not have had the blessings and opportunities they have today. [applause]] lesson number three. Value your friendships. He said he would always be obedient to god because he knew that god worked through us in a spiritual capacity. What does this mean . The congressman and i enjoyed talking about carpentry. It is through our conversations that i learned an important lesson. Always check on your friends. Foundation for your friends. When the house collapses. And be the roof for your friends when the rain comes. [applause] number four. Pass the ball. The congressman once told me that a true leader shares leadership. To get the ball down the court. To win. Share the ball. Give others the opportunity to lead. He exercised this lesson by looking to the youth for answers and choosing people to join him on his mission to help all americans. We saw this in his committee assignments. Lesson number five. Which is hard for me. Work through your pain. Was one of the hardest workers i ever knew. When we traveled through the country and his mission to fight for the soul of our democracy, when he spoke on the house floor or traveled to a Community Center to talk to children, he was always in pain. However, when it was time to theess his audience, congressman transformed into a spiritual warrior. It was as if he received the cure to his pain. No armor. No sword. No shield. S weapon of unconditional love for people. However, when he was on stage, his your was that he knew he would be truly speaking to a generation he would never see. For days, i have been trying to there out the first and fifth lesson but i family got it. If he were here, the congressman would tell me, harry, remember to be greater than your pain. Transcend darkness and become the light to lead to better days. Continue to fight when all hope is lost. And if one leg does not work, use a walker. At least he will be standing. [cheering and applause] in my spirit, the congressman wants me to say one last thing. [laughter] thank you to everything you gave me. I could not have been the leader without you. To burn them, thank you for being the general of my army. Applause]and to family, thank you for letting me be bobby. You for yourhank love and support. To my children, when you get there,and you need me watch the lion king and remember my favorite part when they say he lives in you. I will always live in you. To all in attendance, remember this final lesson. Life may change. You may change. Hard choices will come. But the congressman proved to us all that kurds and will are timeless. Courage and will are timeless. [applause] [background sounds] [applause] to god be the glory. To god be the glory. This man lived for god and he is of god. I have come here today to say two simple words. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks to everyone. He loved baltimore city. Baltimore, thank you for everything that you did to pour into him to make him who he was, to allow him to be an rise to greatness. Howard county, he always said when he spoke to you, it is my honor and privilege to serve you and he meant every word of it. To baltimore county, he enjoyed serving you as well so thank you so much for supporting and working with him. To all his congressional colleagues, it was a distinct honor and privilege to walk beside you, to fight the good fight, the congressional black caucus, he was a proud member of an once led. To the leadership of the senate and the house, antipelosi, thank you. He considered you his mentor. Was sont obama, he proud. [cheering] he was so proud. To stand with you and for you early. To be your cochair here in the state of maryland, to serve as your chief defense attorney on the House Oversight committee. [laughter] and to make sure that you and your administration were all right. You did not have any challenges like we have going on right now. So his job became harder over time. Clinton coming he was absolutely honored to be your friend, he counted you amongst his friends. You when he invited you, you showed up. One of the proudest moments of his life was when you came right here to New Psalmist Baptist Church and worshiped with us. We thank you so much. Secretary clinton, oh my goodness. He spent many an hour defending you. Against furious claims. And now cometh he has to go on to actually work to fight for the soul of our democracy and against very real corruption. I want you all to know that it was not easy. But congressman, chairman calming spirit what he did was not easy and it got infinitely more difficult in the last months of his life. When he sustained personal attacks and attacks on his beloved city. And while he carried himself with grace and dignity, and all public forums, it hurt him. Because one thing you do not know about congressman cummings was he was a man of full in spirit. He felt very deeply. He was very empathetic. One of his greatest gifts. And it was one of his forces of his ability to be a Public Servant and a man of the people. Basically to be laid out in such a glorious way, to be a tribute to the great man that he was, to the great legacy that he laughed, to be the first africanamerican to ever lie in state in the u. S. Capital. Now it is that he dictated that he dictated every aspect of his Service Today and he would tell me maya, i do not want a service that the u. S. Capital but i felt. Strongly that they were trying to tear him down and we needed to make sure that he went out with the respect and dignity that he deserved. This was a this was a man of the utmost integrity. Do you hear me . He had integrity and he cared about the democracy. He cared about our planet. He cared about our community. Sure we in a society worthy of our children. I just want to tell you that also wasnt easy in the last months of his live because he absolutely was in pain. I get this, he was a walking miracle. Do you know that he was diagnosed with a lifethreatening illness more than 25 years ago. He was given six months to live more than 25 years ago. And he kept going. He kept fighting. He kept standing. He kept working. And it was my distinct honor and privilege to be his spouse. [applause] so today before he died, he was in a lot of pain. He could no longer walk. But he kept staying, im tired. Im ready to go. And so, the Wonderful World class act at the John Hopkins University hospital. Their worldclass staff, they came out and they said they wanted to give him sunshine therapy. So they rolled his entire medical bed out of the room and into the 14th floor, the rooftop of john hopkins hospital, where they lend the helicopter for lifethreatening situations, and we rolled out and it was a glorious and Beautiful Day with live everywhere and the sun was shining and it was absolutely glorious. And he said, boy have i come along way. [applause] and he absolutely came a long way. And so with that i just want to say thank you for pouring into him. Thank you for supporting him. Thank you for allowing him to serve you because it was his greatest an honor and privilege to work on behalf of all of you. The family, the pain has been lesson from all the love we have received from the city, state, region in the world. I just want to say thank you. God is good. Take care. [applause] president clinton thank you, very much bishop. Maia and all of the honorees cometh bishop i thank you for many things but especially for the decades