Remembrance

This is a fairly well-known passage, although I don't recall the name of the writer. But these are the words I would want to say to people who remember me after I am gone, if they could hear me.

Death is nothing at all. I have only slipped away into 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 you always used.

Put no difference in 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 the household name it always was. Let it be spoken without the shadow of a ghost in it.

Life means all that it ever meant. It is the same as it ever was.
What is death but a negligible accident? Why should I be out of your mind because I am out of your sight?

All is well. Nothing is lost. One brief moment and all will be as it was before.

For my friends and loved ones who have already left before me. You are always by my side, lending me your strength.