Memorial

*Authors are unknown, unless otherwise noted.

When someone you love becomes a memory, the memory becomes a treasure.

When the heart grieves over what it has lost, the spirit needs to rejoice over what it has left. - sufi saying 

Everyone we have ever loved becomes a part of who we are now.  Time never takes the precious things away.

We shape our lives not by what we carry with us - but by what we leave behind.

Life is a dream walking... death is a going home.
~ Chinese proverb

Life is short but it's wide.

Though the voice is quiet, the spirit echoes still.

Great lives never go out. They go on.
~ Benjamin Harrison

Unable are the loved to die for love is immortality.
~ Emily Dickinson

You can't do anything about the length of your life, but you can do something about its width and depth.
~ Shira Tehrani

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.

How lucky I am to have known someone who was so hard to say goodbye to.

Love is something that you can leave behind you when you die. It's that powerful.
~ Native American Proverb

Each time we embrace a memory, we meet again with those we love... for the heart never forgets.
~ Flavia

Love lives forever and belies the passage of time.
~ Flavia

Time is a stairway the soul climbs on a pathway to the stars.
~ Flavia

How quietly she tiptoed into our world. Softly, only a moment she stayed, But what an imprint her footprints have left upon our hearts.

It is healthy and honorable to weep at the loss of someone we love. Healthy because such passion must be released. Honorable because it is respectful to admit the importance of people who have loved and supported us...people whose footprints cannot ever be matched.
~ Maya Angelou

If tears could build a stairway
And memories a lane,
I'd walk right up to heaven
And bring you back again.

Beauty can be found in beginnings as well as in endings, for they are each a part of life's journey.
~ Flavia

Always present in the heart,
Untouched by passing years,
The memories of a loved one
are held forever dear.

The golden moments in the stream of life rush past us, and we see nothing but sand; the angels come to visit us, and we only
know them when they are gone.
~ George Eliot

You held my hand for just a short while... but you will hold my heart for ever.

Alas, poor world, what treasure hast thou lost!
~ William Shakespeare

Death leaves a heartache no one can heal,
love leaves a memory no one can steal.

In a letter dated July 15, 1980 , John Denver wrote....
"...death is not an ending, but a symbol of movement along the path upon which we are all traveling. As it may be painful to lose contact with the physical aspect of one we love, the spirit can never be lost. We have been and always will be a part of each other.
Peace,
John"

Lives of great men all remind us we can make our lives sublime, and departing, leave behind us, footprints on the sand of time.
~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

I believe there are angels among us
Sent down to us from somewhere up above
They come to you and me in our darkest hours
To show us how to live
To teach us how to give
To guide us with a light of love
~ Alabama

I hold it true, whate'er befall,
I feel it, when I sorrow most;
'Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all.
~ Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Courage of Life
Without belittling the courage with which men have died, We should not forget those acts of courage with which men...have lived. The courage of life is often a less dramatic spectacle than the courage of a final moment; but it is not less a magnificent mixture of triumph and tragedy.
~ John F. Kennedy

Immortality is the passing of a soul through many lives or experiences, and such are truly lived, used, and learned, help on to the next, each growing richer, happier, and higher, carrying with it only the real memories of what has gone before.
~ Louisa May Alcott

Warm summer sun, shine kindly here;
Warm southern wind, blow softly here;
Green sod above, lie light, lie light --
Good night, dear heart, good night, good night.
~ Mark Twain

Eskimo Legend
Perhaps
they are not
stars in the sky
but rather
openings
where our
loved ones
shine down to
let us know
they are happy.

Perhaps God is a poet
who writes with words
of flesh and bone and leaf and flower.
Every hour of every day
words pour out of the poet's heart
and every word is beautiful
and true and worth the telling.
And when each poem is perfect,
and there is no more which ought to be said,
the poet gently takes the words
back into His heart
where they are safe forever...
And then begins again.

God's Garden
God looked around his garden, and found one empty place.
God looked down upon the earth and saw her tired face.
God put his arm around her and lifted her to rest.
God's garden must be beautiful, he always takes the best.
God knew that she was suffering. God knew she would never get well on earth again.
God saw the road was getting rough , and the hills were hard to climb.
So God closed her weary eyelids,and whispered "peace be thine."
It broke out heart to lose her, but she didn't go alone, for a part of us went with her
the day God called her home.

Angel Pennies
I found a penny today
Just laying on the ground,
But it's not just a penny
This little coin I've found.
Angels put them there
That's what my Grandpa told me,
He said Angels toss them down
Oh, how I love that story.
He said when an Angel misses you
They toss a penny down,
Sometimes just to cheer you up
To make a smile out of your frown
So don't pass by that penny
When you're feeling blue,
It may be a penny from heaven
That an Angel's tossed to you.

A rose may lose its bloom,
But still the fragrance lingers long.
A bird may fly away,
Yet we can still recall its song.
So when someone who is loved departs
To join the Lord above,
They'll live and laugh and be with us
In memories of love

One gift, above all others
God gives to us to treasure
One that knows no time, no place
And one gold cannot measure
The precious, poignant tender gift
Of memory...that will keep
Our dear ones ever in our hearts
Although God gives them sleep
It brings back long remembered things
A song, a word, a smile
And the world's a better place because...
We had them for awhile.

Two smiling eyes are sleeping,
Two busy hands are still.
The one we loved so deeply
Is resting at God's will.
May he always walk in sunshine,
God's love around him glow.
For all the happiness he gave us,
Only a few will ever know.
It broke our hearts to lose him
But he did not go alone.
For part of us went with him
The day God called him home.

Christmas in Heaven
This Christmas in Heaven what a beautiful sight!
It's my first one here; everything is all right.
The crib is adorned with the brilliance of stars;
Wisemen have come from Venus and Mars.
I've met all our dear ones who preceded me here;
The reunion was lovely, an event full of cheer.
And tonight we'll all gather, in reverence we'll kneel.
For the babe in the the cradle up in Heaven is real.
I think of my family that I left behind.
I pray that your Christmas is as blessed as mine.
Please shed no more tears for my soul is at rest.
Just love one another, live life to its best.
Yes, it's Christmas in Heaven so I've heard them say;
Yet, Christmas in Heaven happens every day.

First Christmas in Heaven
I see the countless Christmas trees
around the world below
with tiny lights, like Heaven's stars
reflecting in the snow.
The sight is so spectacular,
please wipe away the tear
for I am spending Christmas with
Jesus Christ this year.
I hear the many Christmas songs
the people hold so dear
but the sounds of music can't compare
with the Christmas choir up here.
I know how much you miss me,
I see the pain inside your heart,
but I am not so far away,
we really aren't apart.
So be happy for me dear ones,
you know I hold you dear.
and be glad I'm spending Christmas,
with Jesus Christ this year.
I sent you each a special gift,
from my Heavenly home above.
I sent you each a memory,
of my undying love.
After all love is a gift more precious
than pure gold.
It was always most important
in the stories Jesus told.
Please love and keep each other,
As my Father said to do.
For I can't count the blessings or love
he has for each of you.
So have a Merry Christmas and
wipe away that tear.
Remember, I'm spending Christmas with
Jesus Christ this year. 

Do not stand at my grave and weep
I am not there, I do not sleep
I am a thousand winds that blow
I am the diamond glints on snow
I am the sunlight on the ripening gain
I am the gentle autumn rain
When you awaken in the morning hush
I am the swift lifting 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