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’ll come back,
Or you can open your eyes and see all she’s 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’d want:
smile, open your eyes, love and go on.

In tears we saw you sinking,
and watched you pass away.
Our hearts were almost broken,
we wanted you to stay.
But when we saw you sleeping,
so peaceful, free from pain,
How could we wish you back with us,
to suffer that again.
It broke our hearts to lose you,
but you did not go alone,
For part of us went with you,
you are forever in our hearts.

One night a man had a dream. He dreamed he was
walking along the beach with the LORD.
Across the sky flashed scenes from his life.
For each scene, he noticed two sets
of footprints in the sand; one belonging to him,
and the other to the LORD.

When the last scene of his life flashed before him,
he looked back at the footprints in the sand.
He noticed that many times along the path
of his life there was only one set of footprints.
He also noticed that it happened at the very
lowest and saddest times in his life.

This really bothered him and he questioned
the LORD about it. “LORD, You said that
once I decided to follow You, You’d walk with me
all the way. But I noticed that during the most
troublesome times in my life, there is only
one set of footprints. I don’t understand why
when I needed You most You would leave me.”

The LORD replied, “My precious, precious child,
I love you and I would never leave you.
During your times of trial and suffering,
when you see only one set of footprints,
it was then that I carried you.”

Do not weep that I have gone,
‘Be Glad’ that I have been.

For I have known life to its fullest measure,
I have felt pain and I have known pleasure.

Tears I have cried in grief and in laughter,
I have known love and all that comes after.

I’ve tasted the salt and bitterness of tears,
I’ve walked in the rain when the day is done,
Felt a soft summer breeze,
And the warmth of the sun.

I’ve sat by the sea and heard the waves pound,
Held the hand that is friendship,
its richness abound.

Yes, I have known life, and I will learn death,
So weep not for me that I have gone,
But ‘Be Glad’ that I have been
And that I have known you.

Do not weep that I have gone,
But rejoice that I have been.
For I have known life to its fullest measure,
I have felt pain and I have known pleasure.
Tears I have cried in grief and in laughter,
I have known love and all that comes after.
I’ve tasted the salt and the bitterness of tears,
I’ve walked in the rain when the day is done,
Felt a soft summer breeze, the warmth of the sun.
I’ve sat by the sea and heard the waves pound,
Held the hand that is friendship, its richness abound.
Yes, I have known life, and I will learn death,
So weep not for me that I have gone,
But rejoice that I have been,
And that I have known you.

Do not mourn too long
for our caring father,
but honour his memory
with a promise to live a little better
for having known him.
It will enrich his life and yours,
for Dad’s legacy will live on.

Do not stand at my grave and weep,
I am not there, I do not sleep.
I am the thousand winds that blow,
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain,
I am the gentle Autumn’s rain.
When you awake in the morning hush,
I am the swift uplifting rush
of quiet birds in circling flight.
I am the soft star that shines at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there, I did not die.

Do not mourn too long
for our caring mother,
but honour her memory
with a promise to live a little better
for having known her.
It will enrich her life and yours,
for Mum’s legacy will live on.

Death is nothing at all;
I have only slipped away into the next room.
Whatever we were to each other, that we are still.
Call me by my old familiar name;
Speak to me in the easy way you always used.
Laugh as we always laughed
at the little jokes we enjoyed together.
Play, smile, think of me, and pray for me.
Let my name be the household word that it always was.
Let it be spoken without effect.
Life means all that it ever meant.
It is the same that it ever was;
there is absolutely unbroken continuity.
Why should I be out of your mind
because I am out of your sight?
I am but waiting for you, for an interval,
somewhere very near just around the corner.
All is well. Nothing is past; nothing is lost.
One brief moment and all will be as it was before,
only better, infinitely happier and forever,
we will be one together with Christ.

Dads are special people,
No home should be without.
For every family will agree,
They’re so nice to have about.

They are a happy mixture,
Of a small boy and a man
And they’re very necessary,
In every family plan.

Sometimes they’re most demanding
And stern and firm and tough,
But underneath they’re soft as silk,
For this is just a bluff.

But in any kind of trouble,
Dad reaches out his hand
And you can always count on him,
To help and understand.

And while we do not praise Dad,
As often as we should,
We love him and admire him,
And while that’s understood.

It’s only fair to emphasise,
His importance and his worth,
For if there were no loving Dads,
This would be a loveless earth.

Count your garden by the flowers,
Never by the leaves that fall.
Count your days by golden hours,
Don’t remember clouds at all.
Count your nights by stars, not shadows.
Count your life by smiles not tears
And with joy on every birthday.
Count your age by friends, not years.

May tender memories soften your grief,
May fond recollection bring you relief,
And may you find comfort and peace in the thought,
Of the joy that knowing your loved one brought –
For time and space can never divide,
Or keep your loved one from your side,
When memory paints in colours true,
The happy hours that belonged to you.

Helen Steiner Rice

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.

A wonderful woman laid to rest
For everyone she did her best
Her deeds were good
Her heart was kind
A better wife and mother
No-one could find

Loved by all who knew her

Sadly missed – Sleep peacefully

A wonderful man laid to rest
For everyone he did his best
His deeds were good
His heart was kind
A better husband and dad
No-one could find

Loved by all who knew him

Sadly missed – Sleep peacefully