Think of me as one at rest for me you should not weep ..

I have no pain, no troubled thoughts for I am just asleep.

The living thinking me that was is now forever still ..

And life goes on without me as time forever will.

If your heart is heavy now because I’ve gone away ..

Dwell not long upon it, friend for none of us can stay.

Those of you who liked me I sincerely thank you all ..

And those of you who loved me I thank you most of all.

The answer to life’s riddle in life I never knew ..

I go with hope that now I will and even so will you.

Oh, foolish, foolish me that was I who was so small ..

To have wondered, even worried at the mystery of it all.

And in my fleeting lifespan as time went rushing by ..

I found some time to hesitate to laugh, to love, to cry.

Matters it now if time began if time will ever cease? ..

I was here, I used it all and now I am at peace.

Once, in a little pond, in the muddy water under the lily pads, there lived a little water beetle in a community of water beetles. They lived a simple comfortable life in the pond with few disturbances and interruptions. Once in a while, sadness would come to the community when one of their fellow beetles would climb the stem of a lily pad and would never be seen again. They knew when this happened; their friend was dead, gone forever.

Then, one day, one little water beetle felt an irresistible urge to climb the stem. However, he was determined that he would not leave forever. He would come back and tell his friends what he had found at the top. When he reached the top and climbed out of the water onto the surface of the lily pad, he was so tired, and the sun felt so warm, that he decided he must take a nap. As he slept, his body changed and when he woke up, he had turned into a beautiful blue-tailed dragonfly with broad wings and a slender body designed for flying.

So, fly he did! And, as he soared he saw the beauty of a whole new world and a far superior way of life to what he had never known existed. Then he remembered his beetle friends and how they were thinking by now he was dead. He wanted to go back and tell them, and explain to them that he was more alive now than he had ever been before. His life had been fulfilled rather than ended. But, his new body would not go down into the water. He could not get back to tell his friends the good news. Then he understood that their time would come, when they, too, would know what he now knew. So he raised his wings and flew off into his joyous new life!

Have you ever watched kids

on a merry-go-round?

Or listened to the rain

Slapping on the ground?

Ever followed a butterfly’s erratic flight?

Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?

You better slow down.

Don’t dance so fast.

Time is short.

The music won’t last.

Do you run through each day

On the fly?

When you ask How are you?

Do you hear the reply?

When the day is done

Do you lie in your bed

With the nexy hundred chores

Running through your head?

You’d better slow down

Don’t dance so fast.

Time is short.

The music won’t last.

Ever told your child,

We”ll do it tomorrow?

And in your haste,

Not see his sorrow?

Ever lost touch,

Let a good friendship die

Cause you never had time

To call and say, Hi

You’d better slow down.

Don’t dance so fast.

Time is hort.

The music won’t last..

When you run so fast to get somewhere

you miss half the fun of getting there.

When you worry and hurry through your day,

It is like an unopened gift…

Thrown away.

Life is not a race.

Do take it slower

Hear the music

Before the song is over.

Bid me farewell my family and friends.

I bow to you and take my departure.

Here I give back the keys of my door and all claim to my earthly home.

All I ask is a few kind words

The day has dawned and the lamp that lit my little corner shines no more.

A voice is calling now from far away.

And I am ready to begin my journey.

Rabindranath Tagore

Don’t grieve for me, for now I’m free,

I’m following the path God laid for me.

I took his hand when I heard his call,

I turned my back and left it all.

I could not stay another day,

To laugh, to love, to work, to play.

Tasks left undone must stay that way,

I’ve found that peace at the close of day.

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 will miss.

Be not burdened with times of sorrow,

I wish you the sunshine of tomorrow.

My Life’s been full, I savoured much,

Good friends, good times, a loved one’s touch.

Perhaps my time seemed all to brief,

Don’t lengthen it now with undue grief.

Lift up your hearts and peace to thee,

God wanted me now, He set me free.

Weep not for me though I am gone into

that gentle night.

Grieve if you will, but not for long upon

my soul’s sweet flight.

I am at peace, my soul’s at rest

There is no need for tears.

For with your love I was so blessed.

For all those many years.

There is no pain, I suffer not,

The fear now is all gone.

Put now these things out of your

thoughts,

In your memory I live on.

Remember not my fight for breath

Remember not the strife.

Please do not dwell upon my death,

But celebrate my Life.

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.

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,

Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,

Silence the pianos and with muffled drum

Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.

Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead

Scribbling on the sky the message He is Dead,

Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,

Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.

He was my North, my South, my East and West,

My working week and my Sunday rest,

My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;

I thought that love would last forever: I was wrong.

The stars are not wanted now: put out every one;

Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun;

Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood,

For nothing now can ever come to any good.

W.H. Auden

God looked around the garden and found an empty place,

He then looked down upon the earth and saw your tired face.

He put his arms around you and lifted you to rest,

God’s garden must be beautiful he always takes the best.

He knew that you were suffering he knew you were in pain.

He knew that you would never get well on earth again.

He saw the road was getting rough and the hills were hard to climb.

So he closed your weary eyelids and whispered, “Peace be Thine.”

It broke our hearts to lose you but you didn’t go alone.

For part of us went with you the day God called you home.

One night a man had a dream.

He dreamed he was walking along the beach with the Lord.

Across the sky flashed scenes for 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,

that there was only one set of footprints.

He also noticed that it happened at the 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 have noticed that during

the most troublesome times of 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 replies “My Son, My precious child, I Love You,

and 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.”

Anon

by Jerry J. Brown

Listens, hears and understands…

Communicates softly, a tear, a touch, a smile…

Senses the shock and knows the numbness of disbelief and denial …

Understands the intimacy of death, and quietly

responds to each mood and moment…

Knows the many faces of grief and helps

family members understand them…

Walks with families through the corridors of

confusion and despair onto the pathway of

acceptance and serenity …

And through education, experience and

personal compassion, is the most

dedicated to helping people during

this time of pain and sorrow.

Thus, with gentle strength and deep sensitivity

the Funeral Director serves our society.

Deep peace of the running wave to you,…

Deep peace of the flowing air to you,…

Deep peace of the quiet earth to you, …

Deep peace of the shining stars to you,

Deep peace of the Son of Peace to you.…

May the road rise to meet you;

May the wind be always at your back;…

May the sun shine warm upon your face;

May the rains fall softly upon your fields.

Until we meet again, …

May God hold you in the hallow of His hand.