Rest in Peace

There has been a lot of sadness lately, personally, nationally, globally. These are the words to a memorial prayer from when a family friend died; the lyrics to a song we sang when a beloved professor died, and even though they still make me tear up, they bring peace.

Remember that, while we never get over the loss of someone, we get used to not having them here, and the day-to-day activities slowly become bearable... it's okay to slowly let their memory fade, for a part of them lives within you. Talk about their life, laugh, remember the good times, and when that gust of wind picks up from out of nowhere, or you find a moment of silence taking your breath away as you look at the sunrise, know that the loved one lost is with you, and with God, in that very same moment.

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 glint on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripend grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.

When you wake in the morning hush,
I am the swift, uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circling flight.
I am the soft starlight of night.

Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there, I did not die.

text by Mary Frye