Memorial for Brian
The day is hot as work begins outside
to set the scene and place your ashes here;
as family gather near with friends beside
to celebrate your life on earth with cheer.
An opening prayer read out, the service starts
and, one by one, the poems are read aloud
by kin, with love outspoken from their hearts.
Much loved you are by all within this crowd.
The day went well, your friends said heartfelt words;
with tears they spoke of much how they miss you.
Your song was played, no other sound was heard
as service ended with a prayer from Hugh.
The rose I chose to place your ash will live
with tender loving care that Dad will give.
Joan Benecke Jan 28th 2007
Author notes
We held a service on Saturday January the 20th in our backyard for our son Brian who passed away in August 2006. We needed closure for his ashes so family and friends gathered to say farewell. The yard looked beautiful with all the colored umbrella’s and gazebo’s.
The day was hot 41 deg celsius and still we had over 50 family and friends attend.
The first poem his Niece Jade read was written especially for the service by my friend Sea angel http://allpoetry.com/poem/2501211
The second poem was read by his Nephew Justin loaned to me by MargaretG for the service.
http://allpoetry.com/poem/2521596
The third poem, written by me, was read by his sister, Sharon:
http://allpoetry.com/poem/2214714
The fourth poem written by me was read by his sister, Julie, and Nephew Mitchell: http://allpoetry.com/poem/2240831
The closing prayer was written for this service by my good friend Hugh Wyles and is printed below.
Let us pray:
O’ Loving God, dear Father of Mankind,
whose all-seeing eye and omnipresent ear
observes our every thought in heart and mind,
we ask You now to hear our earnest prayer.
And, as You promised that, when two or three
are gathered in Your Name and come to pray,
pour down Your Blessing on us all as we
commemorate our brother here today.
As You have taken Brian into Your care,
while he was young and living, strong and brave,
in faith we know Death does not end all here
but life eternal goes beyond the grave.
So, in that faith, we pray that You will keep
the soul of Brian in Your loving Grace.
Grant him eternal rest and peaceful sleep
and blessed happiness before Thy Face.
And, Lord, give comfort now to those who mourn;
their hearts bereft set free from grief and pain.
May they, by happy memories, be borne
until, in Heaven, we all shall meet again.
From Brian’s ashes, may these roses bloom,
as, in our hearts forever, he has room.
Amen.
I wish to give special thanks to these three Poets for giving me the honour of having their poems read at the service.
angelica
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Comments
1 - 41 of 41
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So sad, but isn't it strange that such beauty as this poem can come out of such tragedy, it always seems that sad things open up the muse. I'm sorry for your loss.
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Ashes To Ashes, Dust To Dust...
Sorry about your Loss.
Beautiful poem...
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aw i like this poem,pain brings out the poet, thatz what my grandma always told me, R.I.P brian i havent got a chance 2 read all ur poems but so far this iz my favorite! ima post up sim of my RIP poems great poem again!
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I remember when this first happened, and it's still heart-breaking to read about this. It's clear he was a remarkable man who was loved very much. It's so beautiful that so many people still feel the depth of feeling that they do for him after all this time.
Out of curiosity - what was his song? Music is such a fascination for me. It can say so much about a person's personality and character.
As always, your words move and inspire. -
My Beautiful Joan,
I know how hard this loss was for you. I hope that you keep him close to your heart...
this is so beautiful and heartbreaking.
Criss -
Excellent!
Excellent!
Is this it Joan? I read it before and love it then and now. You are one terrific writer and Mother. I know that Brian must have felt very lucky to have a Mom like you. You are indeed one of a kind.
Damon -
This touched my heart, Joan. To lose a child has got to be one of the most devestating things that could happen in our lives.
I wish you peace and acceptance of God's plan for each of us.
love and blessings
Dee
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I remembered that this was close to the day of the Memorial Service for Brian, and had you close to my heart, an in my prayers. I miss seeing your face on the web cam, and miss just talking to you Joan. I pray that this year is filled with joy for you and your family. Hug the kids and Bob for me.
Always ♥
Renee
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Yes Renee, it's hard to believe it's been a year since the Memorial service. I too miss you my dear Renee we never seem to connect nowadays, but no matter how far apart we are we are always connected, you always sense when I am hurting, just as I do with you. I fly to New Zealand on Feb 8th with Sharon to visit Hugh and Edna while we're there. Hugh has our days planned out on where to take us.
Love you sweet Sister.
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Excellent!
I read this before and thought I had commented but evidently got sidetracked and forgot to. Sorry about that. I think it is a great poem.
Damon -
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Thanks Damon my dear friend for dropping by.
Joan.
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A fine sonnet of remembrance.
And, I loved the way poets from Allpoetry contributed. How beautiful the whole concept and how real!
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This is strong and imparts much strength to its readers. Your loss is too harsh. Oddly and unusually, (it's not what I do) this made me want to pray. Thanks
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Thank you CW for reading my memorial for my Son, it was a very traumatic time.
Joan
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You are welcome - I hope you have peace as far as is possible and a memorial you may 'touch' (or go to) as needs be. x bless x CW
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Oh Gosh, I cannot imagine losing a child. I have lost many close loved ones but wow, how strong you are to write such beautiful poetry, have such a compassionate heart and go on. You are truly a wonderful soul and I am deeply sorry for your loss. I don't believe that this poem needs critiquing as sentimental and as personal as this is. You are in my thoughts and prayers
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I could really relate to this. My grandmother passed away in February and like this service, hers was conducted in scorching summer heat. Afterwards she made sure we sent her off in fine style by putting a big tab on the bar for the wake. Was the kind of party she'd have loved - the tipsy matriarch at the head of the table and making a scene...
This was a sweet, heartfelt farewell. I wish I'd been able to write one for my grandmother. Out of curiosity, what was his song?
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Dear Chris, it's already been 1 year since Brian died, it's gone so fast. Brian's song is "Thunder Struck by Acdc" we played it at his Memorial Service.
Love Joan
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I'm sorry for your loss my dear friend. I felt the spirit within this deeply.
May his spirit find peace!
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may this be forever blessed
I read this and was overcome by the beauty of it all oh how special that day and I remember that hot weather around that time I think your family and brians friend had a beautiful day and good on you for being so strong for them all, your spiritual faith is divine and no one could at all doubt that at all.
much love to you all and blessed is brian to have much love for him to look down from his family home
love
pauline
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I dont believe in afterlife, and I would be the last one to talk about God or heaven, yet I believe in warm hearts of poeple that cherish and save the memories of the ones they love.
That is the eternity that we can have or hope to have. Short and yet so loud heartbeat of the loving heart is the eternity for us.
Children, parents, lovers, friends... They all give us a little bit of their eternity and we give them back some of ours.
This poem is a proof of such eternity. -
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Ahhh my little friend, I was just asking Rora last night had she heard from you as it's been so long. And here you are Don't worry my friend, you will when you get there, in fact when I'm gone I'll give you proof and that's a promise. It's so good to hear from you Gedis. I suppose you've been studying hard as always and not getting enough sleep, or eating properly.
Love as always
Joan
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How wonderful
Brian would have looked on with such love for you all. I am glad it all went so well.
Love and blessings
Jan -
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Brian was there Jan, he was seen by my psychic friends: Nancy saw him sitting in the tree laughing, and listening to all the tributes and flying around all of us. And Brenda spoke to him, he told her to tell me that he's very proud of the way I coped with everything, and he enjoyed seeing all his friends there. I do miss him so much though Jan as you would know my friend.
Love and blessings to you.
Joan
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Oh my...this tore at my heart. I am so sorry for your loss. I was a mess at that time, and please forgive me for not giving you my love and friendship at that time. I can only imagine your sorrow.
This was such a loving and tender piece, could feel the love and pain. Beautiful!
Sam
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Thank you Sam, it was a hard time to go through and I had to stay strong for the family, but we made it and now he's here with us in his special garden that I can sit beside whenever I want. Losing one of your children is the hardest things for parents to face.
I know you would've been here for me Sam if you could. I hope whatever the hard times you went through are now resolved.
Love you my angel
Joan
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Dear Angelica, i am deeply sorry for your loss. One thing for sure, your son is with Him, whom we long to be with u. Have a good day.
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Joan I am so sorry for your loss, and don't know how I missed commenting on this before now. I can't imagine your grief at losing your precious son. What a beautiful dedication to him. I hope that with each passing day your pain subsides just a little. Wonderful heartfelt write
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Hi Julie, thanks sweety for dropping by..it turned out a great day except for the heat we had on that hot Saturday in January. I'm sorry I haven't been by to visit lately, although I'm signed into AP I'm not always here. It's been 7 months since Brian crossed over but he's around me often.
Love Joan
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Excellent!
Joan this is excellently written by Hugh, and I know that he was honored to do it for you just as any dear friend would have been. I am sorry for you loss as I have told you in the past and anytime that you want or need to talk just email me anytime.
Damon
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I am left speechless with a chill surging through me Joan. Almost as if I were there with you all. I do believe I was in spirit. May the God of All, great and small send angels of comfort to be with you when times overwhelm. I LOVE YOU!
The sonnet is most beautiful. I can feel the love that spills over with each line. Be blessed my dear sister, and again I say; be blessed.
Always & Forever ♥
Renee
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Thank you my dear friend for your wonderful words of encouragement. I believe we are both so connected that each of us knows when the other is in need of comfort.
And you would've been there in spirit my friend, maybe Astral travelled in your dreams as our day is your night.
Love you too my dear Sister/Friend.
Love Joan
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that is incredibly moving and knowing what both you & your husband and Hugh and Edna have lost- this is incredibly sad.
David
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Thank you David. The amazing thing is that Hugh's daughter's were born on February 29th and when it's not a leap year they have it on Feb 28th, the same day as Brian's birthday, and they were his last born just as Brian was our last born.
Amazing how our lives run parralel to each other.
Love Joan
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This is beautiful my friend, so beautiful. I am sorry for your loss, but I hope that you will allowhis memory to stay alive in your heart. I love you and my heart aches with you.
with love for you forever,
Criss
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Thank you Darling Criss.
The memory of Brian will always be in my heart. You my dear angel also know what it's like to lose a loved one.
And they are always with us in spirit and that comforts me and gives me the strength to carry on.
Love Joan
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I believe Brian led me here today...
Someone brought me here today. Brian's spirit.
I just read all the poems and felt such peace of Brian's soul. It is a wonderful thing to be loved. I feel such love and angelic light here. Today began an ordinary day and suddenly became special when I stopped by here.
Thank you
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He is loved
Yes, I believe he did as well Pixie as he's been around me constantly and will also visit you as he knows how special you are to me, so he will look after you. All the poems are beautiful and everyone loved them.
Love AAAJ
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Thank you for sharing
This service was a very moving tribute to your son, and I was honoured to contribute to it. The memorial garden will be a spot to remember Brian and all the people who love him. Your sonnet about the day is direct and touching. Thank you Joan.
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Brian's Rose garden
Dear Sweetpea, I am so happy that you were part of the ceremony. The garden is lovely and when the roses bloom again it will be magnificent.
Love Joan
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Most moving.
Thank you Bea for inviting me to write a closing prayer for Brian's memorial service. It was an honour for me to do so and thus participate in the occasion
which I wish I could have attended personally. I am sure that Brian loved the poems, messages and expressions of love that all present offerred.
Only a heart and soul such as yours would have conceived the idea of the beautiful private memorial garden and the memorial service for Brian.
Bless you my Angelic friend to whom I send, as always,
my love and hugs, XXX Hugh.
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