How did it feel to inhabit/embody/become these characters (who were, of course a real people)?

As a pastor in my own life, my effort to embody Rev. Geisler as he delivered Ida Lewis's eulogy came naturally on one level. I have eulogized many people over a 35-year priesthood. I felt challenged though to speak the exact words Geisler had proclaimed to the thousand mourners gathered in Newport in October, 1911. The homily had nearly as tight a structure as a complex poem, not a syllable without purpose in terms of meter, emphasis and exhortation. I felt a duty to be true to Geiler's artistry as a preacher, with a mastery of language reminiscent of Shakespeare. I tried. His expressions about the heroism, modesty and perseverance of Ida Lewis struck me as being as apt to be spoken in 2025 about her as they were 114 years ago. I felt I could offer Geisler's eulogy to the 2025 listeners as if she had just died, and we all needed to understand and honor the extraordinary woman who had been among the people of Newport as both an everyday neighbor and an international symbol of unselfish bravery.