by Henry Scott-Holland

Death is nothing at all.
I have only slipped away into 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 in 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 and if you want to, 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 as it ever was;
There is unbroken continuity.
Why should I be out of mind because I am out of sight?I am waiting for you,
For an interval,
Somewhere very near,
Just around the corner.
All is well.

by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that, the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

by A.K. Rowswell

Should you go first and I remain
to walk the road alone
I’ll live in memory’s garden, dear
with happy days we’ve known
in Spring I’ll wait for roses red,
when fades the lilacs blue,
in early fall, when brown leaves call
I’ll catch a glimpse of you
Should you go first, and I remain
for battles to be fought,
each thing you’ve touched along the way
will be a hallowed spot
I’ll hear your voice;
I’ll see your smile,
though blindly I may grope
the memory of your helping hand
will buoy me on with hope
Should you go first and I remain
to finish with the scroll,
no length’ning shadows ahall creep in
to make this life seem droll
We’ve known so much of happiness
we’ve had our cup of joy,
and memory is one gift of God
that death cannot destroy
Should you go first and I remain,
one thing I’d have you do;
walk slowly down that long, lone path,
for soon I’ll follow you
I’ll want to know each step you take
that I may walk the same,
for some day down that lonely road
you’ll hear me call your name

by Unknown

We little knew that morning
God was to call your name.
In life we loved you dearly,
in death we do the same.
It broke our hearts to lose you,
You did not go alone.
For part of us went with you
The day God called you home.
You left us beautiful memories,
Your love is still our guide,
And though we cannot see you,
You are always at our side.
Our family chain is broken,
and nothing seems the same,
But as God calls us one by one,
The chain will link again.

by Jim Howard

Where I have gone I am not so small.
My soul is as wide as the world is tall.
I have gone to answer the call, the call
Of the One who takes care of us all.
Wherever you look, you will find me there
In the heart of a rose,
In the heart of a prayer.
On butterflies’ wings, on wings of my own,
To you, I’m gone,
But I’m never alone I am home

by Unknown

I thought of you with love today but that is nothing new
I thought about you yesterday and days before that too,
I think of you in silence I often speak your name
All I have are memories and your picture in a frame
Your memory is my keepsake with which I’ll never part
God has you in His keeping I have you in my heart.

by Unknown

We are touched by Angels
walk where angels tread.
They will guard and guide us
through the days ahead.
In times of sorrow,
as in the days of joy,
they bring us hope and comfort
nothing can destroy.
In the hours of darkness,
when our dreams have flown
they bring us peace and healing.
We are not alone
through times of doubting,
still they understand.
We are touched by angels,
walking hand in hand.

by Mary Frye

Do not stand at my grave and weep;
I am not there, I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blows
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 stand at my grave and cry;
I am not there, I did not die.

by T.C. Ring

We’ve shared our lives these many years. You’ve held
My hand; you’ve held my heart. So many blessings, so
few tears – Yet for a moment, we must part. The
memories you’ve given me are times I’ve shared with
my best friend I’ll hold them, Love. Right here they’ll
be until we share our lives again.

by Margaret Fishback Powers

One night I dreamed a dream.
As I was walking along the beach with my Lord.
Across the dark sky flashed scenes from my life.
For each scene, I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand,
One belonging to me and one to my Lord.

After the last scene of my life flashed before me,
I looked back at the footprints in the sand.
I noticed that at many times along the path of my life,
especially at the very lowest and saddest times,
there was only one set of footprints.

This really troubled me, so I asked the Lord about it.
“Lord, you said once I decided to follow you,
You’d walk with me all the way.
But I noticed that during the saddest and most troublesome times of my life,
there was only one set of footprints.
I don’t understand why, when I needed You the most, You would leave me.”

He whispered, “My precious child, I love you and will never leave you
Never, ever, during your trials and testings.
When you saw only one set of footprints,
It was then that I carried you.”

by Marie Alaimo

We have shared
A significant moment
With tears awash
Amidst the quiet Smiles
Your handclasp
There surging
We acknowledge
The love and the Life
With profound Expression
As we embrace
And remember
The exhilarating
Poignant living
Walking upon time
Now
With a silent kiss

by Deborah Peabody

The celebration of life,
shared in the beginning, and again, in the end.
Yet we forget to celebrate it, in every moment we live.
Time, days, years, go on, but are we alive?
Alive and do not know it, sleeping in the world
and dead to the life we are to live.
To celebrate all life,
the sparrow who sang in the morning,
and died in the night,
why do we not celebrate its life?
To know thyself is to know you are alive –
to give, to love, to seek truth, beauty, and suffer pain.
In life as it is meant to be, pain is forgotten, and
strength is all that’s left to be gained
in the moment by moment celebration of life.

by Bonnie Carnahan

Some days the road once traveled is a saddened trail,
Some days it’s roses and it feels so good just to be alive.
Some days we feel like no one is out there who cares,
And you are the only one left to pick up the broken pieces
life has left you to deal with.
Love can be such a wondrous thing and it can also
hurt like a thorn; pricking every feeling and emotion
left inside you.
Sometimes love just stinks and other times
it makes one feel warm and tingly inside.
When the love is gone…
The hurt begins for one or both…
Someone always gets hurt in the end.
Two hearts beating as one…
Two hearts now broken apart.
As the story goes,
I found myself falling in love…
And now I find myself falling apart.
Love can be grand…
It can also tear you apart until you
feel like you can’t go on.
You left when I needed you the most…
But I am strong and I will mend and
fall in love all over again.

by Diana Johnson

I kept my promise, to love, honor, and share. I kept my promise that to you that I would always there Until death do we part, that is what they say. Oh my love why did you leave me that day? I wasn’t ready for you to say goodbye, as I look into the heavens with tears in my eyes, I wasn’t ready for you to die. My best friend why did you leave and not say goodbye? With so many questions and no answers as to why. I would have gone with you, however God knows best and took you home to give you rest. I was not ready, no not just yet, With only one regret that I didn’t tell you one last time I love you, and forever you will be mine. My best friend this you must know, and never forget. I will see you again when God calls my name and say’s it is time to go home and be with your best friend once again.

by Melanie Jones

I am peaceful.
I have decided to begin with a new slate, new beginning.
Letting go and believing.
I am going to free fall into the arms of love and believe that the same spirit who has inspired me will make all my dreams come true.
Courage is fear who has said her prayers.
I am reminded, the God who gave me all my dreams is the same God that will make them happen. HE WONT FORGET ME OR FORSAKE ME.
And I think it is time to pay attention to what is to be, not necessarily what I thought was going to happen.
I am trading my discouragement and disappointment for faith and hope wrapped in a beautiful package filled with gratitude and peace.
Love will always rear up in my dreams defense,your family and friends are a great example of this love.
Thank God every day for all you have.
Then thank Him for making your dreams come true.

by Unknown

As long as we live, they too will live;
For they are now a part of us:
As we remember them!
At the rising sun and at its going down we remember them.
At the blowing of the wind and in the chill of winter we remember them.
At the opening of the buds and in the rebirth of spring we remember them.
At the blueness of the skies and in the warmth of summer we remember them.
At the rustling of the leaves and in the beauty of the autumn we remember them.
At the beginning of the year and when it ends we remember them.
As long as we live, they too will live, for they are now a part of us. As we remember them. When we are weary and in need of strength we remember them.
When we are lost and sick at heart we remember them.
When we have decisions that are difficult to make we remember them.
When we have joy we crave to share we remember them.
When we have achievements that are based on theirs we remember them.
For as long as we live, they too will live,
For they are now a part of us, as we remember them.

by Unknown

Love is stronger than death. So I must be content to know that love is not
affected by death– It doesn’t end, it doesn’t diminish, it doesn’t change.
Instead love is immortalized and eternalized through death. And the
possibility of that love ever being damaged or broken is eliminated forever.
I’ll put my trust in love.

by Unknown

Those we love remain with us
for love itself lives on,
and cherished memories never fade
because a loved one’s gone.
Those we love can never be
more than a thought apart,
for as long as there is memory,
they’ll live on in the heart.

by Unknown

If tears could build a stairway
And heartache make a lane,
I’d walk the path to heaven
And bring you back again.