My beloved Uncle Reuben passed away in January, it's been a great loss to all of us. For all that he did wrong in life, he did an equal amount of right, you just couldn't help but love him. Family meant everything to him and you always knew you were loved when you got one of those big hugs from him. He wasn't one of those men that held his feelings in, you always knew where you stood with him.
There so much I could say about him, but I just knew I couldn't get up in front of all those people at the service to say it. The morning of his service this poem just came to me, I had to write it down and all I could find was post-it notes, so I wrote it down on a bunch of them! In the car on the way to the service my oldest daughter kindly copied them on to a sheet of paper so I wouldn't had to stand with all these post-it's in my hand. I waited to read it at the graveside. I was so nervous, I hate to talk in front of lots of people (and there was a lot there!) and I usually talk so quite but I just knew I had to do it or regret not doing it.
So here is my poem that I read, it's my take on an Irish blessing, even though my Uncle didn't have any Irish in him unless it was whiskey!
May you have arrived to open gates
May you have arrived to open arms of those gone before
May have all your troubles, sorrows, pain been lifted;
Lifted from your weary soul
May the golden warmth heal your broken heart,
warm your cold hands
May your days now be filled with peace;
your dreams of happy times
May you watch over the ones you left behind;
their hearts filled with sorrow and pain
May you help ease their pain with memories;
Memories of better times
May you warm their cloudy days with rays of light from above
May when they reach the end, you be standing;
Standing at the open gates with arms opened wide,
To welcome them home.
And as many said at the service after I read it,
Amen.
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| Picture of my Uncle Reuben that I took at his daughter Felicia's wedding a few years ago. |
~Laura Fedak, Written January 2012
