You would have been 54 today, and I would have sent you a card and some kind of Irish-themed gift, plus a book or two, of course, as you and I shared a deep and abiding love of books and reading. I like to think we would have chatted over the phone, laughing and catching up. You would regale me with tales of your exploits at the Marshalltown Library and I'd catch you up on your godson Nick (you'd be shocked at how big he's gotten at age 15, already!) Oh how I miss you, best beloved. I miss your laugh, I miss your wit, I miss your kind and generous heart and your brilliant mind. Here are some poems that give me comfort, in thinking that you're just right around the corner, still waiting for a good chat and a laugh. Rest well, my friend.
Death is nothing at all.
It does not count.
I have only slipped away into the next room.
Everything remains as it was.
The old life that we lived so fondly together
is untouched, unchanged.
Whatever we were to each other, that we are still.
Call me by the old familiar name.
Speak of me in the easy way which you always used.
Put no sorrow in your tone.
Laugh as we always laughed at the little jokes that
we enjoyed together.
Play, smile, think of me, pray for me.
Let my name be ever the household word
that it always was.
Let it be spoken without effort
Life means all that it ever meant.
It is the same as it ever was.
There is unbroken continuity.
Why should I be out of mind because
I am out of sight?
I am but waiting for you, for an interval,
somewhere very near, just around the corner.
All is well. Nothing is hurt; nothing is lost.
One brief moment and all will be as it was before.
How we shall laugh at the trouble of parting,
when we meet again.
Death leaves a heartache
no one can heal;
Love leaves a memory no
one can steal.
Remembered Joy
Don’t grieve for me, for now I’m free!
I follow the plan God laid for me.
I saw His face, I heard His call,
I took His hand and left it all…
I could not stay another day,
To love, to laugh, to work or play;
Tasks left undone must stay that way.
And if my parting has left a void,
Then fill it with remembered joy.
A friendship shared, a laugh, a kiss…
Ah yes, these things I, too, shall miss.
My life’s been full, I’ve savored much:
Good times, good friends, a loved-one’s touch.
Perhaps my time seemed all too brief –
Don’t shorten yours with undue grief.
Be not burdened with tears of sorrow,
Enjoy the sunshine of the morrow.
