Goodbye England's Rose

A tender funeral ceremony this morning which I am sure will have touched Mum's heart.I have no doubt at all that she would have felt deeply honoured by the wonderful friends and relations who came to pay their respects to her memory.

W e entered the chapel to the restrain of my brother's choice of music, Goodbye England's Rose by Elton John.  This was a wonderfully appropriate choice whose lyrics perfectly reflected the wonder of Mum's memory.

After the priest read his compassionate eulogy, we reflected upon Mum's life to my choice of music, Adagio in G Minor by Albinoni. Then, after the formal prayer committing Mum's soul to the care of God, we left the chapel as Mum's choice of music played in the background. That was My Heart Will Go On by Celine Dion.

Your heart does go on, Mum, beating in the breasts of all those people whose lives you have enriched with the beauty of your soul.

I will love you forever.

I will end this entry with the poignant and uplifting poem which Mum requested to be read during her funeral service. I think it perfectly encapsulates the joy and optimism that made her such a strong, gentle and compassionate human being.

Death is nothing at all.
I have only slipped away to the next room.
I am I and you are you.
Whatever we were to each other, 
That, we still are.

Call me by my old familiar name.
Speak to me in the easy way
which you always used.
Put no difference into your tone.
Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow.

Laugh as we always laughed
at the little jokes we enjoyed together.
Play, smile, think of me. Pray for me.
Let my name be ever the household word
that it always was.
Let it be spoken without effect.
Without the trace of a shadow on it.

Life means all that it ever meant.
It is the same that it ever was.
There is absolute unbroken continuity.
Why should I be out of mind
because I am out of sight? 

I am but waiting for you.
For an interval.
Somewhere. Very near.
Just around the corner.

All is well.

Nothing is past; nothing is lost. 
One brief moment and all will be as it was before.
How we shall laugh at the trouble of parting when we meet again.


Canon Henry Scott-Holland