Seeking a quote or poem for a funeral

Events & Event Planning Wakes & Funerals
21

Hi Debbie, I am sorry for your loss! Here are a couple poems that comforted me when I lost my son. Take care, Robbin

The Ship

I am standing by the seashore.
A ship at my side spreads her white sails to the morning breeze
and starts for the blue ocean.
She is an object of beauty and strength,
and I stand and watch
until at last she hangs like a peck of white cloud
just where the sun and sky come down to mingle with each other.

Then someone at my side says, 'There she goes!
Gone where? Gone from my sight - that is all.

She is just as large in mast and hull and spar
as she was when she left my side
and just as able to bear her load of living freight
to the places of destination.
Her diminished size is in me, not in her.

And just at the moment when someone at my side says,
'There she goes! ' ,
there are other eyes watching her coming,
and other voices ready to take up the glad shout :
'Here she comes!'
by Henry Van Dyke

and...

The Rose That Grows Beyond The Wall

Near shady wall a rose once grew
Budded and blossomed in God's free light,
Watered and fed by morning dew,
Shedding its sweetness day and night.

As it grew and blossomed fair and tall,
Slowly rising to loftier height
It came to a crevice in the wall,
Through which there shone a beam of light.

Onward it crept with added strength
With never a thought of fear or pride
It followed the light through the crevice length
And unfolded itself on the other side

The light, the dew, the broadening view,
Were found the same as they were before
And it lost itself in beauties new
Breathing its fragrance more and more

Shall claim of death cause us to grieve
And make our courage faint or fall
Nay, let us faith and hope receive
The Rose Still Grows Beyond the Wall

Scattering fragrance far and wide
Just as it did in days of yore
Just as it did on the other side
Just as it will forever more.

A.L. Fink

I wish you a multitude of arms to comfort you!

22

Hi Debbie,

I am so sorry to hear about your aunt. We just lost a close friend a couple of weeks ago and I found this quote that I thought was perfect for him:

"Nothing is ever wholly lost. That which is excellent remains forever a part of this universe." — Ralph Waldo Emerson

I hope this helps...

23

Dear Debbie - I'm so sorry. My Father died just over a year ago and we read many of the poems below in cards and letters.

My family found a brief story about Dad to be the 'right thing' to put in the memorial service program.

Give yourself a little time. I am sure you will find the right way to share a verbal picture of who she was, or the right quote/poem to honor her. In the meantime, I've copied two more quotes we found in our wonderings.

~ a bit somber, but lovely: it's from a novel, actually. Redemption Falls, by Joseph O'Connor, 2007.

"Your steps will prevail over any earthly road, no matter its hardness or the danger by its edge, just as time, in its droplets of the unnoticed seconds, will eventually hollow a way through your lifestone"

~ Antoine de Saint-Exupery's "The Little Prince" has a long but lovely quote:
". ..and at night, you will look up at the stars. You alone will have the stars as no one has them...[for] in one of the stars I shall be living. In one of them I shall be laughing. And so it will be as though all the stars were laughing, when you look at the sky at night. . .you -only you- will have stars that can laugh. And when your sorrow is comforted (time soothes all sorrows) you will be content that you have known me. You will always be my friend."

24

Hello again! Thank you all for your replies. The poems and quotes were great and were exactly what I was looking for. I did wind up writing some memories from my heart and spoke about her last days. I felt it was important to share with the other family members the fears that stood before my aunt and those of us who took care of her. Though it was a painful experience to see someone special suffer and be crippled with cancer, I’m glad to have been with her through her last journey. It was a true blessing to be by her side when she took her last breath, as we knew that she was surrounded by love.
I did find this quote in my searching, and would like to share, though I did not use it, I liked it.

“There are things that we don’t want to happen but have to accept, things we don’t want to know but have to learn, and people we can’t live without but have to let go.” ~Author Unknown