Written for my Mother's Funeral

Thought – July 22, 2014

We all have families, more or less and as we age these number of family members seem to go down.  Death is a big part of our lives and none of us ever really want to believe that we will die or that our family members will or do die. 

Did you know that death can open the door to clean slates and new paths for those left behind?  Family members estranged because of anger, guilt, or any kind of issues that put wedges between them, all these have an opportunity to set aside their differences and find the peace they need to go forward.  Funerals have a way of drawing out deep inner emotions.

We can’t change the past, we can’t take away the scars it may have left behind, but what we can do, is work together to do what we can to find the solutions to allow remaining family members to bond and unite or reunite to support those left behind because of death.

Usually the saying goes “until death do us part.”  Well I personally see death as “a parting life bringing an end to yesterday’s feeling.”  When a field is burnt, it leaves behind a scarred piece of property.  But after the death of the green grass, the flowers and anything else that was growing on “top,” in a few weeks, new life appears again.

For those who do not have strong ties or good relationships with other family members, take the time to seek ways to amend hurt feelings and to find the rebirth and joy that comes from emptying yesterday and beginning anew.

What about you?  Have you found death to give you reasons to seek out and draw closer to your family?  Share your thoughts with us…Jeanne Claire Probst

Written for my Mother’s Funeral

Words cannot fully express

So there is no reason to guess

How I feel, how you feel

Let us bury the past as we lay our mother, sister, aunt and friend down to rest.

She will sleep

Some of us will weep,

Some will pray for her soul

All will seek good memories, future stories to be told.

Cherish the best of times

Of the years gone by

Hold each other as tears we do cry

Allow the bond to mend our ties.

It would be such a waste

If forgiveness in our hearts can’t find a place

That will help us all to allow love to fill its empty space.

We have to believe that our mother, sister, aunt and friend would want us to be

Move loving to each other, to have peace.

So pray that in God’s hands our mother, sister, aunt, and friend will rest

And let us build our tomorrows with the family we have left.