Monty Williams Speaks Of Forgiveness In An Emotional Eulogy For His Wife
It’s been an emotional week and a half for Oklahoma City Thunder assistant coach Monty Williams, and things were certainly no different on Thursday.
Last week, on February 10, the wife of Monty Williams, Ingrid Williams, died from injuries sustained in a car accident the night before after an SUV crossed the center line and collided with her vehicle head-on. The driver of the SUV that struck Williams’ car, Susannah Donaldson, was also killed.
Prayers up to Monty Williams and his family after losing his wife in a car accident from last night. RIP Ingrid pic.twitter.com/ra5BIxE6wN
— DTS Hoops (@dtshoops) February 11, 2016
After more than two decades in the league as a player and coach, Monty Williams is very well respected, which is why more than 900 people, including a large number of NBA players and coaches, were on hand for Ingrid Williams’ memorial service on Thursday. The Oklahoma City Thunder’s official website released this statement on the service.
“On Thursday afternoon, an estimated 900 people attended the Celebration of Life for Ingrid Williams, late wife of Thunder assistant coach Monty Williams.
The entire Thunder organization – players, coaches and staff – were in attendance at Crossings Community Church in Oklahoma City for the service. Ingrid is survived by her husband, her five children, three siblings and her parents.
A large contingent of NBA players, coaches and staff also attended the service. It included Gregg Popovich, Doc Rivers, Alvin Gentry, Kiki Vandeweghe, Jerry Colangelo, Jeff Van Gundy, Tom Thibodeau, David West, Anthony Davis, Ryan Anderson, Chris Paul, Tim Duncan and many others from the NBA family who traveled to Oklahoma City to support Coach Williams and his family.”
“I’m thankful for all the people who showed up today. It’s a pretty tough time, not just for me but for all of you as well. I’m mindful of that. This is hard for my family, but this will work out. And my wife would punch me if I were to sit up here and whine about what is going on. That doesn’t take away the pain, but it will work out because God causes all things to work out. You just can’t quit; you can’t give in.”
Monty Williams is a very committed Christian and gave reasons on why he feels the way he does.
“God will work this out. My wife is in heaven. God loves us. God is love. And when we walk away from this place today, let’s celebrate. Because my wife is where we all need to be. And I’m envious of that. But I got five crumb-snatchers I’ve got to deal with. I love you guys for taking time out of your day to celebrate my wife. We didn’t lose her. When you lose something you can’t find it. I know exactly where my wife is. I’ll miss holding her hand. I’ll miss talking with my wife.”
Monty Williams also spoke showed great compassion as he spoke of forgiveness at the conclusion of his powerful eulogy.
“I want to close with this, and I think it’s the most important thing we need to understand. Everyone is praying for me and my family, which is right, but let us not forget that there were two people in this situation. And that family needs prayer as well, and we have no ill will towards that family.
In my house, we have a sign that says, ‘As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.’ We cannot serve the Lord if we don’t have a heart of forgiveness. That family didn’t wake up wanting to hurt my wife. Life is hard. It is very hard, and that was tough, but we hold no ill will toward the Donaldson family. And we, as a group, brothers united in unity, should be praying for that family, because they grieve as well. So let’s not lose sight of what’s important.”
You can view the speech in the video below.
This Monty Williams speech. Incredible.https://t.co/puAAxQ8Inq
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) February 19, 2016
[Image via YouTube]
