Betty Weissman (mother of edw519) 1930-2011

Death is Nothing at All by Henry Scott Holland

    Death is nothing at all. 
    I have only slipped away into 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 in 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 affect, 
       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 absolutely unbroken continuity. 
    Why should I be out of mind 
       because I am out of sight?
    
    I am waiting for you, 
      for an interval, 
         somewhere very near, 
           just around the corner.
    
    All is well.

Lovely writing, as always, Ed, and I think she probably would have smiled for this one.

I am so lucky that I still have both my loving parents, but I have experienced the loss of loved ones. I find solace in knowing that while they can't make new decisions, their light cone will keep shining in eternity, so they will always be a part of the world.