Its been a tough road to hoe for a while now. Sometimes the greif is almost a palpable thing. It can hang in the air around you to the point it will choke the life out of you.
She was always such a joyous child. Through all the surgeries, and pain, she never gave up, and always found the upside of things. Athene was just weeks away from her CPA, and had made her life a success, overcomming greater odds than a more generous God would have allowed for.
A force of nature to be sure, yet kind, and compassionate. Always a "Daddys Girl" yet fearcly independant. I miss our long talks together.
A lot of you would have met her at the next WESTOC.
I just wanted to share al little bit of who she was with you all. She will definatly be missed.
Thank you all, for the comforting thoughts, and prayers. It really does help lift some of the pain away...
I'll share with you a poem that I recited at her eulogy. It helped me to put her death in perspective,and gave me comfort to write it, and may, perhaps help the other parents here that have lost a child. It seems the are just to many of us these days.
A Child Loaned
"I'll lend you for a little time
A child of Mine." He said.
"For you to love the while she lives
And mourn for when she's dead.
It may be six or seven year
Or twenty-two or three
But will you, till I call her back
Take care of her for Me?
She'll bring her charms to gladden you
And should her stay be brief,
You'll have her lovely memories
As solace for your grief.
I cannot promise she will stay
Since all from Earth return,
But there are lessons taught down there
I want the child to learn.
I've looked this wide world over
In my search for teacher's true,
And from the throngs that crowd life's lanes,
I have selected you;
Now will you give her all your love,
Nor think the labour vain
Nor hate Me when I come to call
And take her back again?
I fancied that I heard them say,
"Dear Lord, They will be done,
For all the joy Thy child shall bring,
For the risk of grief we'll run.
We'll shelter her with tenderness,
We'll love her while we may,
And for the happiness we've known,
Forever grateful stay.
But should the angels call for her
Much sooner than we planned,
We'll brave the bitter grief that comes
And try to understand."
Anonymous
I released it to the internet anonymously and its started to appear all over...
one can easily replace "him" for "her"
Doug
