The following is a story, in verse, of a patient at Newry Hospice.
I saw a sign today,
you showed it to my soul
I thank you for the gift of time
You gave before I go.
It gives me a chance Lord,
One I didn’t think I had
Of saying to those that I love
In my passing – don’t be sad.
I’ve lived my life as I thought
With values based on good
Sometimes I fell along the way
I guess you knew I would
But in my heart and in my mind
Stayed true as I believed
To my family and my faith
Helped by the blessings I received.
To the Lady in my life
Her love on me you bestowed
A blessing to someone like me
To have and hold
A sadness in parting
But a joy to have shared
The lifetime of love in the arms
Of someone who cared.
I can tell all my children
How proud they make me feel
Of the good times we have shared
And those things they have achieved
I want to see that look of love
Just one more time
Share it with them silently
And etch it on my mind.
Then I’ll make my last walk
With you by my side
This gift you have granted
Will help those left behind
Let the bells in the Chapel
Call my friends in to pray
May their prayers of love for you
Help me on my way.
In my children, I leave a legacy
For all the world to look and see
And know that they in return
Will pass on lessons I had learned
Of love, of courage, of pulling together
Around respective family trees
Knowing the span ‘tween my life and death
Will always be filled with memories .