Poetry...

(Please see our newsletters for more poetry)

Contact us

Angel Whispers

c/o Families First Society

PO Box 3285

Fort Saskatchewan, AB

Canada

T8L 1L2

(780)998-5595, ext. 225

The risk of love is loss, and the price of loss is grief—but the pain of grief is only a shadow, when compared with the pain of never risking love.

 ~Hillary Stanton Zunin~

 Rosebuds

by Oceanna HallHeston

As we stand with empty arms,

broken hearts and shattered dreams

we envision tiny rosebuds

still held tightly by nature's unbroken seams.

For no other human heartache

can possibly compare

with the death of one's own child

 so gentle, small and fair

It is not always the aged

that dies and leaves us alone

Sometimes it is a rosebud

so tiny sweet & young

Never knowing the real reason

yet always wondering why.

Though our rosebuds did not flower

The love we shared, will never die.

Oceanna is Pastor at the Royal Alexandra Hospital. 

She wrote this poem for the May Memorial Service. 

Thank you Oceana for sharing it with us!

Your life was taken

from my world;

but God replaced you

with a rose,

sprinkling petals on

my saddened path

and sunshine

on my woes.

Author Unknown

What lies behind us

and what lies before us

are tiny matters

compared to what lies

within us.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Let the little children

come to me,

and don't prevent them.

For such is the Kingdom

of Heaven

Matthew 19:14

“Give sorrow words;

the grief that does not speak

whispers the o'er-fraught heart and bids it break.”

~William Shakespeare~

Grief Is Not A Mountain To Be Climbed,
With The Strong Reaching The Summit
Long Before The Weak.
Grief Is Not An Athletic Event,
With Stop Watches Timing Our Progress.
Grief Is A Walk Through Loss And Pain
With No Competition And No Time Trials
Tyler Aaron
Gone But Not Forgotten
9-3-95

 

I know it seems long

the days without me,

but it is only for a moment

in eternity.

See my smile,

the joy in my eyes.

Please know mommy and daddy,

there is peace in paradise.

Find comfort and peace

in the soul of your heart,

and know there will be an end

to the days we are apart.

Try not to hurt too much,

for this is not the end.

One day you'll hold me

in your arms again.

In loving memory of Our Little Angel

Kaedin Wayne Newberry

December 18, 2004 to March 1, 2005

These are My Footprints

Author Unknown

These are my footprints, so perfect and so small. These tiny footprints, never touched the ground at all.

Not one tiny footprint, for now I have my wings. These tiny footprints were meant for other things.

You will hear my tiny footprints, in the patter of the rain. Gentle drops like angels’ tears, of joy and not from pain.

You will see my tiny footprints, in each butterflies' lazy dance. I'll let you know I'm with you, if you give me just a chance.

You will see my tiny footprints, in the rustle of the leaves. I will whisper names into the wind, and call each one that grieves.

Most of all, these tiny footprints, are found in mummy's heart, cause even though I'm gone now, we'll never truly part.

“Sorrows are our best educators. 

When the Japanese mend broken objects, they aggrandize the damage by filling the cracks with gold.  They believe that when something's suffered damage and has a history it becomes more beautiful.

 ~Barbara Bloom~

 美しい。

(beautiful)

The risk of love is loss, and the price of loss is grief—but the pain of grief is only a shadow, when compared with the pain of never risking love.

 ~Hillary Stanton Zunin~

Forever Love

Anonymous

Even though we never met
I know your face by heart.

Even though we never spoke
I can hear your voice.

Even though I never held you
I feel your weight in my arms.

Even though we'll never lie beneath the same stars
you will always shine above us.

If we are facing in the right direction,

all we have to do is keep walking.

~Buddhist Teaching~

Soft tears falling down

delicate as a crystal

twinkling as stars.

~ Glen Allan Elementary School

2005/2006 Grade 3 Class~

Each life is a miracle

that changes the world…

And leaves it a better place

than it was before.

“Sometimes love is for a moment,

Sometimes love is for a lifetime,

Sometimes a moment is a lifetime.”

 ~Martin Luther King~

“Oh heart, if one should say to you that the soul perishes like the body, answer that the flower withers, but the seed remains.”

~Kahlil Gibran~

Don't let the size of his body

or the short time he was with me,

determine or underestimate the value of his life.

 ~H. Kemp~

Written in memory of Koen, her sweet baby boy.

“He who has not looked on Sorrow

will never see Joy.”

~Kahlil Gibran

“Unable are the loved to die

for love is immortality.”

 ~Emily Dickinson~

Don't Feel

Sorry for Me

©2003

By Sarah's Mom

Michelle Hochachka

Don't feel sorry for me because I can't hold my baby girl…

She's in the arms of Jesus now.

Don't feel sorry because I had to carry Sarah over a full-term….

As long as I carried her she was mine,

I felt her move and I felt her presence every minute of every day,

and I loved her.

Don't feel sorry for me for my loss….

Through Sarah, God made love grow in our home,

she brought Corey and I closer

together, we've never been so much in love.

Don't be mad at God for taking her away…

With every kick and every movement Sarah made,

she brought me closer to God,

she strengthened my relationship with Jesus my savior.

Don't feel sorry for me because of the discomfort I went through…

Through the discomfort Sarah was with me--

a part of everything I did and everything I was,

I wouldn't trade one minute of it.

Don't feel sorry for me because God didn’t perform the miracle of healing….

Sarah touched the lives of so many people and although we prayed for the miracle of a cure for little Sarah, the miracles she brought were many, and God's not finished using my Sarah to perform even more.

Don't feel sorry - don't mourn too long….

Instead, wipe away the tears and look for the miracles of my little Sarah.

Written in memory of Sarah Michelle Hochachka,

born with angel wings on August 13, 2003.

" And God Said"
I said, " God, I hurt."
and God said, "I know."
I said, "God, I cry a lot."
and God said, "That's why I gave you tears."
I said, "God, I am so depressed."
and God said, "That's why I gave you sunshine."
I said, "God, life is so hard."
and God said, " That's why I gave you loved ones."
I said, " God, my loved one died."
and God said, " So did Mine."
I said, " God, it is such a loss."
and God said, " I saw mine nailed to a cross."
I said, " God, but Your loved one lives."
and God said, " So does yours."
I said, " God, where are they now?"
and God said, " Mine is on My right and yours is in the Light."
I said, " God, it hurts."
and God said, " I know."

posted on the wall at the
Oklahoma City bombing site
by KC & Myke Kuzmic
Stockton, Ca.
 

Native American Prayer

I give you this one thought to keep--

I am with you still--I do not sleep.

I am a thousand winds that blow,

I am the diamond glints on snow,

I am the sunlight on ripened grain,

I am the gentle autumn rain.

When you awaken in the mornings hush,

I am the swift, uplifting rush

of quiet birds in circled flight.

I am the soft stars that shine at night.

Do not think of me as gone--

I am with you still--in each new dawn.

Angel Wings

By Jean Rozon

Written in memory of her baby granddaughter, Vivienne.

A precious angel slipped away,

no one heard a cry.

No time for Daddy and Mommy

to sing me lullabies.

My time with you was much too short,

I had to leave so soon.

But love had joined us as I grew

inside my mommy's womb.

It wove its way within our hearts,

in all our hopes and dreams,

until the very purest love

became my tiny wings.

Although I could not stay with you,

I knew right from the start

that once you felt your angel's love,

you'd keep me in your heart.

I'm just a little angel

but my time was not in vain,

as dark clouds that surrounded you

gave way unto the sun.

My precious parents you will see

that any heart will sing,

if only for a moment

it is brushed by angel wings.

PRECIOUS ONE

By Dawn Glenton  ©2002

Visit Dawn's Beautiful Site

Where did you go my precious one, why did you leave so soon?
I thought I took great care of you whilst you grew in my womb.
I tried to be so careful, I wanted you so much,
To watch my tummy grow and grow then finally feel your touch.
To smell your newborn baby's scent and hold your tiny hand,
To rock you tightly in my arms and tell you all I'd planned.
There was so much we had to do, much love I had to give,
I'm sure that you'd have loved me to if only you had lived.
Oh precious one, now you're not here, how can I carry on?
When will the darkness fade away, when will I see the sun?
My precious little baby, mummy's precious little one!

PLEASE DON'T CRY

By Dawn Glenton  ©2002

Visit Dawn's Beautiful Site

Please don't sit round my grave and cry,
I am not there, I did not die.
What makes you think that I would leave?
I'm with you mum, so please don't grieve.
Our bond on earth was much too strong,
Our love will carry on and on...
I'm with you as you go to bed,
I plant sweet kisses on your head.
I'm in the wind, the rain, the snow,
I'm with you everywhere you go.
Please don't cry mummy, can't you see?
I'm safe my spirit soars, I'm free.

A butterfly lights beside us like a sunbeam.

And for a brief moment its glory and beauty belong to our world...

But then it flies on again,

and though we wish it could have stayed,

we feel lucky to have seen it.

 “You are closer to me than ever before

and the only difference is that instead of opening my eyes to see you,

now I must open my heart.”

~Sandy Goodman~

Fly
 

Fly, fly little wing
Fly beyond imagining
The softest cloud, the whitest dove
Upon the wind of heaven's love
Past the planets and the stars
Leave this lonely world of ours
Escape the sorrow and the pain
And fly again

Fly, fly precious one
Your endless journey has begun
Take your gentle happiness
Far too beautiful for this
Cross over to the other shore
There is peace forevermore
But hold this memory bittersweet
Until we meet

Fly, fly do not fear
Don't waste a breath, don't shed a tear
Your heart is pure, your soul is free
Be on your way, don't wait for me
Above the universe you'll climb
On beyond the hands of time
The moon will rise, the sun will set
But I won't forget

Fly, fly little wing
Fly where only angels sing
Fly away, the time is right
Go now, find the light

©Celine Dion Records

What Do You Say

What do you say when a baby dies and someone says…

“At least you didn’t bring it home.”

What do you say when a baby is stillborn and someone says…

“At least it never lived.”

What do you say when a mother of three says…

“Think of all the time you’ll have.”

What do you say when so many say…

“You can always have another…”

“At least you never knew it…”

“You have your whole life ahead of you…”

“You have an angel in heaven…”

What do you say when someone says…nothing?

What do you say when someone says…

“I’m sorry.”

You say, with grateful tears and warm embrace, “Thank you!”

 By Kathie Mayo from When a Baby Dies: A Handbook for Healing and Helping.