There Are Just No Words

for the sadness that has touched our little valley! Last Thursday night our neighbor and friend passed from this beautiful earth in a tragic car accident on our county road. A road we all travel, day in and day out, the road that leads us all to town and home again. On that cold, foggy night a mother and father lost their son, a brother lost his sibling and best friend, a wife lost her beloved husband and two young, very sweet little girls lost their father! There really are no words to express the sadness and heartbreak that so many feel right now. So many thoughts are going through the minds of many, so many questions, so many whys. This young man will be missed by all who knew him and loved him. It didn't matter how long it had been since you had seen him last, he always had a big smile or hug for you when you met up again. He loved his family, adored his girls, had a big heart, infectious laugh, a zest for life and he loved to tease the little ones and some of us big ones too. He will be missed! Tomorrow will be an emotional day as family and friends come together to say their last good-bye's, to remember, to grieve and to celebrate a life cut short far too soon!

Please say a prayer for this dear family during this sad and heartbreaking time.

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 ~ 1847-1918

Canon of St. Paul's Cathedral ~ London. UK