Harry Halpert

by Helen Steiner Rice

When I must leave you

For a little while-

Please do not grieve

And shed wild tears

And hug your sorrow to you

Through the years,

But start out bravely

With a gallant smile;

And for my sake

And for my name

Live on and do

All things the same,

Feed not your lonliness

On empty days,

But fill each waking hour

In useful ways,

Reach out your hand

In comfort and in cheer

And I in turn will comfort you

And hold you near;

And never, never

Be afraid to die

For I am waiting for you in the sky!

Celebration of Life

The celebration of life,

shared in the beginning, and again, in the end.

Yet we forget to celebrate it, in every moment we live.

Time, days, years, go on, but are we alive?

Alive and do not know it, sleeping in the world

and dead to the life we are to live.

To celebrate all life,

the sparrow who sang in the morning,

and died in the night,

why do we not celebrate its life?

To know thyself is to know you are alive -

to give, to love, to seek truth, beauty, and suffer pain.

In life as it is meant to be, pain is forgotten, and

strength is all that's left to be gained

in the moment by moment celebration of life.

By Deborah Peabody