Funerals

A wife, a mother, a grandma too,

This legacy we have from you.

You taught us love and how to fight,

You gave us strength, you gave us might.

A stronger person would be hard to find,

And in your heart, you were always kind.

You fought for us all in one way or another,

Not just as a wife, not just as a mother.

For all of us you gave your best,

Now the time has come for you to rest.

So go in peace, you’ve earned your sleep,

Your love in our hearts, we’ll eternally keep

Anon

What she suffered, she told but few,

She did not deserve what she went through,

Tired and weary she made no fuss,

But tried so hard to stay with us.

Two tired eyes are sleeping,

Two willing hands are still;

The one who worked so hard for us,

Is resting at God’s will.

Our lips cannot speak how we love her,

Our hearts cannot tell what to say,

But God only knows how we miss her,

In our home that is lonely today.

Your life was love and labour,

Your love for your family true,

You did your best for all of us,

We will always remember you.

Anon

A young mother set her foot on the path of life.

“Is the way long?” she asked.

Her Guide said,

“Yes. and the way is hard, and you will be old before you reach the

end of it, but the end will be better than the beginning.”

But the young mother was happy, and she would not believe that anything could be better than these years.

So she played with her children and gathered flowers

for them along the way and bathed them in the clear streams;

and the sun shone on them, and life was good and the young mother cried, “Nothing will ever be lovelier than this.”

Then night came, and a storm, and the path became dark and the children shook with fear and cold,

and the mother drew them close

and covered them with her mantle and the children said,

“Oh Mother we are not afraid for you are near, and no harm can come.”

and the mother said, “this is better than the brightness of day,

for I have taught my children courage.”

The morning came, and there was a hill ahead, and the children

climbed and grew weary, and the mother was weary,

but at all times she said to the children,

“A little patience, and we are soon there.”

So the children climbed, and when they reached the top they said,

“We could not have done it without you Mother.”

And the mother, when she lay down that night,

looked up at the stars and said,

“This is better than the last day, for my children have learned

fortitude in the face of hardness. Yesterday I gave them courage,

Today I have given them strength.”

The next day there came strange clouds which darkened the earth – clouds

of war and hate and evil – and the children groped and stumbled,

and the mother said, “Look up, lift your eyes to the light.”

The children looked and saw above the clouds an Everlasting Glory,

and it guided them and brought them beyond the darkness.

“This is the best day of all, for I have shown my children God.

And the days went on, and the weeks, and the months, and the years,

and the mother grew old, and she was little and bent.

But her children were tall and strong, and walked with courage.

And when the way was rough, they lifted her, for she was a light as a

feather; and at last they came to a hill, and beyond the hill they could

see a shining road and golden gates flung wide.

And the mother said, “I have reached the end of my journey.

And now I know that the end is

better than the beginning, for my children can walk alone, and their

children after them.”

And the children said,

“You will always walk with us, Mother,

even when you have gone through the gates.”

And they stood and watched her as she went on alone.

and the gates closed after her, and they said,

“We cannot see her, but she is with us still.

A mother like ours is more than a memory.

She is a Living Presence.”

Anon