the Lord bless you and keep you
the Lord make his face to shine upon you
and be gracious unto you
the Lord lift his countenance upon you
and give you peace

diane sunde graham

18 august 1964 - 1 march 2005

my oldest, dearest friend
i cannot find

the words to say

how much you are missed

i swear to you

that i will try

to be as dear a friend

to mike, matthew and amanda

as you are to me

say hello

to your mother and father

who you missed so much

these last fifteen years

keep watch over Carol

and her family

for she loves you

and needs you

and is part of you

and will remember you

the rest of her days.

she is good

and pure

and needs your strength

and courage

please find my dad

shout to him as you did to me

flash him your radiant smile

and warm him with your embrace

save a seat near you

at God's banquet for me

for i love you

as only a best friend could

i will weep

because you are gone

but i will rejoice

because you are here

in my heart

and in my mind

always and forever

time is irrelevant

in the scheme of eternity

for our life here is but

a blink of God's eye.

there are some who believe

that the journey from here

to Paradise

takes a stop along the way

to cleanse us and make us ready

to see the face of God.

i believe

with all my heart

and all my soul

that you found yourself

in the presence of God

the moment you left us

here in this life,

and that surely

your goodness and love

is as perfect as can be

and that you need not

make that stop along the way.

on the random, remotest chance

that you are still making the journey,

that you are moving

toward the light still,

i offer a simple thought,

spoken on the occasion

of my dad's funeral ten years ago.

it is, quite simply,

one of the most beautiful prayers

i have ever heard,

and since you are, quite simply,

one of the most beautiful people

i will ever know,

it bears repeating for you.

it

is

said

by some

that when a bell

rings, a soul, waiting

to get into Heaven, gets

its wings to take it there.

the next time i hear a bell

i will close my eyes and pray

with all my heart and all my soul

that you get your wings to speed

you to

Heaven

Glory be to the Father

and to the Son

and to the Holy Spirit

as it was in the beginning

is now

and ever shall be

the world without end

amen

rest in peace