Some inspirational readings to help you say Farewell ...
WOODLAND BURIAL
Don’t lay me in some gloomy churchyard shaded by a wall
Where the dust of ancient bones has spread a dryness over all,
Lay me in some leafy loam where, sheltered from the cold
Little seeds investigate and tender leaves unfold.
There kindly and affectionately, plant a native tree
To grow resplendent before God and hold some part of me.
The roots will not disturb me as they wend their peaceful way
To build the fine and bountiful, from closure and decay.
To seek their small requirements so that when their work is done
I’ll be tall and standing strongly in the beauty of the sun.
Pam Ayres
LITTLE SNOWDROP
The world may never notice
If a Snowdrop doesn't bloom,
Or even pause to wonder
If the petals fall too soon.
But every life that ever forms,
Or ever comes to be,
Touches the world in some small way
For all eternity.
The little one we longed for
Was swiftly here and gone.
But the love that was then planted
Is a light that still shines on.
And though our arms are empty,
Our hearts know what to do.
For every beating of our hearts
Says that we love you.
LOOK FOR ME IN RAINBOWS
Time for me to go now, I won't say goodbye;
Look for me in rainbows, way up in the sky.
In the morning sunrise when all the world is new,
Just look for me and love me, as you know I loved you.
Time for me to leave you, I won't say goodbye;
Look for me in rainbows, high up in the sky.
In the evening sunset, when all the world is through,
Just look for me and love me, and I'll be close to you.
It won't be forever, the day will come and then
My loving arms will hold you, when we meet again.
Time for us to part now, we won't say goodbye;
Look for me in rainbows, shining in the sky.
Every waking moment, and all your whole life through
Just look for me and love me, as you know I loved you.
Just wish me to be near you,
And I'll be there with you.
Conn Bernard, and Vicki Brown
Death is nothing at all.
I have only slipped away to the next room.
I am I and you are you.
Whatever we were to each other,
That, we still are.
Call me by my old familiar name.
Speak to me in the easy way
which you always used.
Put no difference into your tone.
Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow.
Laugh as we always laughed
at the little jokes 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 effect.
Without the trace of a shadow on it.
Life means all that it ever meant.
It is the same that it ever was.
There is absolute 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.
Henry Scott Holland
AFTERGLOW
I’d like the memory of me to be a happy one.
I’d like to leave an afterglow of smiles when life is done.
I’d like to leave an echo whispering softly down the ways,
Of happy times and laughing times and bright and sunny days.
I’d like the tears of those who grieve, to dry before the sun;
Of happy memories that I leave when life is done.
THE PEACE OF WILD THINGS
When despair grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief.
I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting for their light.
For a time
I rest in the grace of the world,
and am free.
Wendell Berry
THE UNFINISHED
We cannot judge a biography by its length,
Nor by the number of pages in it.
We must Judge it by the richness of its contents
Sometimes those unfinished are among the most poignant.
We cannot judge a song by its duration
Nor by the number of its notes
We must Judge it by the way it touches and lifts our souls
Sometimes those unfinished are among the most beautiful.
And when something has enriched your life
And when it's melody lingers on in your heart
Is it unfinished?
Or is it endless?
I give you this one thought to keep.
I am with you still. I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle Autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning's hush,
I am the swift, uplifting rush
of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not think of me as gone.
I am with you still in each new dawn.
TO MY FATHER
A giant pine, magnificent and old,
Stood staunch against the sky
and all around shed beauty, grace and power.
Within its fold, birds safely reared their young.
The velvet ground beneath was gentle,
and the cooling shade gave cheer to passers-by.
Its towering arms, a landmark stood,
erect and unafraid,
As if to say, "fear naught from life's alarms."
It fell one day.
Where it had dauntless stood
Was loneliness and void.
But men who passed paid tribute, said,
"To know this life was good.
It left its mark on me. Its work stands fast."
And so it lives.
Such life no bonds can hold -
This giant pine, magnificent and old.
Georgia Harkness
This life mattered.
Ready or not, someday it all comes to an end.
There are no more worries, no more minutes, hours or days.
All the things collected, treasured or forgotten, pass to someone else.
Wealth, fame and temporal power shrivel to irrelevance.
It matters not what was owned or owed.
Grudges, resentments, frustrations and jealousies finally disappear.
Hopes, ambitions, plans, and to-do lists expire.
Wins and losses that once seemed so important fade away.
It no longer matters where you came from,
or on what side of the tracks you lived.
No matter whether you were beautiful, or brilliant.
Gender and skin colour are irrelevant.
So what matters?
What matters is not what we bought, but what we built;
Not what we got, but what we gave.
What matters is not our success but our significance.
What matters is every act of integrity, compassion, courage or sacrifice that enriched, empowered or encouraged others to emulate our example.
What matters is not our competence, but our character.
What matters is not how many people we know, but how many people will feel a lasting loss when we are gone.
What matters is not our memories,
but the memories that live in those who loved us.
What matters is how long we will be remembered, by whom and for what.
Living a life that matters doesn’t happen by accident.
It’s not a matter of circumstance, but a matter of choice.
SHE IS GONE
You can shed tears that she is gone
or you can smile because she has lived.
You can close your eyes and pray that she will come back
or you can open your eyes and see all she has left.
Your heart can be empty because you can't see her
or you can be full of the love you shared.
You can turn your back on tomorrow and live yesterday
or you can be happy for tomorrow because of yesterday.
You can remember her and only that she's gone
or you can cherish her memory and let it live on.
You can cry and close your mind,
be empty and turn your back,
or you can do what she would want:
smile, open your eyes, love and go on.
David Harkins
SHE IS GONE
You can shed tears that she is gone
or you can smile because she has lived.
You can close your eyes and pray that she will come back
or you can open your eyes and see all she has left.
Your heart can be empty because you can't see her
or you can be full of the love you shared.
You can turn your back on tomorrow and live yesterday
or you can be happy for tomorrow because of yesterday.
You can remember her and only that she's gone
or you can cherish her memory and let it live on.
You can cry and close your mind,
be empty and turn your back,
or you can do what she would want:
smile, open your eyes, love and go on.
David Harkins
TOO SOON
This was a life that had hardly begun
No time to find your place in the Sun
No time to do all you could have done
But we loved you enough for a lifetime
No time to enjoy the world and it's wealth
No time to take life down off the shelf
No time to sing the songs of yourself
Though you had enough love for a lifetime.
Those who live long endure sadness and tears
But you'll never suffer the sorrowing years
No betrayal, no anger, no hatred, no fears
Just love - Only love - In your lifetime.
Mary Yarnall
EPITAPH ON MY OWN FRIEND
An honest man here lies at rest
As e’er God with His image blest:
The friend of man, the friend of truth;
The friend of age, and guide of youth:
Few hearts like his, with virtue warm’d,
Few heads with knowledge so inform’d.
If there’s another world, he lives in bliss;
If there is none, he made the best of this.
Robert Burns
FAREWELL
Farewell, my friends.
It was beautiful as long as it lasted
The journey of my life.
I have no regrets whatsoever
Save the pain I’ll leave behind.
Those dear hearts who love and care,
And the heavy with sleep, ever-moist eyes.
The smile in spite of a lump in the throat
And the strings pulling at the heart and soul.
The strong arms that held me up
When my own strength let me down.
Each morsel that I was fed
Was full of love.
At every turning of my life I came across good friends,
Friends who stood by me
Even when the time raced me by.
Farewell, farewell my friends
I smile and bid you goodbye.
No, shed no tears for I need them not,
All I need is your smile.
If you feel sad, do think of me
For that is what I’ll like.
When you live in the hearts of those you love
Remember then
You never die.
Rabindranath Tagore
When you are sorrowful look again into your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.
Kahlil Gibrain