However painful it is to bid farewell to one who has died,
once you have done so, you can begin a new relationship with them,
one you can always cherish.
Once you release them from earthly time,
you can embrace them in eternity.
When you release them from the physical dimension,
you can hold them close in a dimension no less real: the spiritual one.
For even though they no longer walk beside you,
they will be even closer.
They will be within you.
And you will not forget them, because you cannot forget them.
They will be as near to you as your own breathing,
and as much a part of you as your own dreaming.
They will exist in you as love.
At a funeral I attended last week, the person who gave the "words of remembrance" at the end of Mass read this. I was so struck by it that I asked him where he got it. It comes from a book titled Winter Grief, Summer Grace: Returning to Life after a Loved One Dies by James E. Miller, page 55. Perhaps it will speak meaningfully to you now. If not, perhaps you will remember this post and return to it when you can use it.
