For those of us left behind.

[Saffie]

I have been looking for a particular photograph and found my mother’s little album that she used to carry around with her. In it I found 2 newspaper cuttings tucked away.
One is of my father’s death when he was 56 and the other was the following little poem by Patience Strong.
My mother was not given to sentimentality and was certainly not a fan of the sort of poems written by Patience Strong so these word must have meant a lot to her and they have certainly resounded with me.
I wish I had known that she felt like this.
I thought it maybe worth mentioning them here in case they reflected the feelings of some others here who are still coming to terms with their loss, as I am.

You are absent from the home but never from my heart
A thousand times a day you come. Some little thing will start -
a trail of lovely memories that winds back through the years -
a trail that all too often leads into a vale of tears.

You are absent from this place but never far away -
from my thoughts, in all I do, in all I think and say...
You have gone - but something of your spirit lingers here
I feel the comfort of your presence ever near and dear.

 

[Grannie G]

I know Patience Strong`s work has a `chocolate box` reputation but often chocolate is very comforting. I'm sure most of us who have loved and lost can identify with her words because we don't need a PhD to understand them.

 

[Beate]

Oh how lovely - I might borrow that for the funeral service!

 

[LadyA]

That is nice. Her work is a bit, as GrannieG says, Chocolate box-y but still, can say it like it is.

 

[Amethyst59]

Thank you....I too, would say I am not a fan of her work...but this is lovely. I will be writing to my sister in law, Her husband’s funeral was yesterday, and I think I will include this.

 

[Saffie]

[

That is nice. Her work is a bit, as GrannieG says, Chocolate box-y but still, can say it like it is.

I seem to associate Patience Strong with magazines like People’s Friend etc. Not my cup of tea and not my mother’s either! When I picked the cutting up and read it I wasn’t expecting to identify with it a bit - but I did and strongly.
As you say, Lady A, it is exactly like it is.

 

[love.dad.but..]

I don't know of Patience Strong but her poem sums up perfectly the void left by mum and dad and the number of times they are in my thoughts and also my dreams.

 

[Loopiloo]

[

I seem to associate Patience Strong with magazines like People’s Friend etc. Definitely not my cup of tea and not my mother’s either! When I picked the cutting up and read it I wasn’t expecting to identify with it a bit - but I did and strongly.
As you say, Lady A, it is exactly like it is.

Exactly my own feelings, Saffie. I also strongly identify with it. The words say how it is.

People's Friend I have mainly read in waiting rooms. Occasionally bought one when in a newsagents because it featured a painting of a Scottish scene. Some of Patience Strong's poems were very expressive, in simple language. This is one, thank you for sharing it.

With love
Loo xxx

 

[Saffie]

Oh how lovely - I might borrow that for the funeral service!

You’re welcome Beate, though I think the feelings expressed probably become more poignant once the funeral has passed and we are left to face the future alone. However of course there is no time span, short or long, for grief nor those memories. I can still recall the very first conversation I ever had with Dave after 59 years.

 

[LadyA]

I got The People's Friend for many years. I'm still dithering between that and the other weekly magazine I regularly get. Up to some months ago, I got both, but I needed to cut back a bit. I know The People's Friend is generally regarded as an older women's magazine, and it's definitely what you would call "light", but I always liked the fact that it's not full of "celebrity" gossip and scandal.

 

[Saffie]

Exactly my own feelings, Saffie. I also strongly identify with it. The words say how it is.

People's Friend I have mainly read in waiting rooms. Occasionally bought one when in a newsagents because it featured a painting of a Scottish scene. Some of Patience Strong's poems were very expressive, in simple language. This is one, thank you for sharing it.

With love
Loo xxx

Yes, I seem to recall it in waiting rooms too. I seem to remember Patience Strong’s verses used to be quite prolific some years ago in some newspapers too. I suppose being older now I might appreciate her words more than when I was young. I certainly do the words above anyway. x

 

[Loopiloo]

I felt her words came straight from the heart. I googled Patience Strong and read this on Wikipedia. She was an interesting person, and she was twice widowed.

Below, just the first paragraph. The rest worth a read.

Winifred Emma May (4 June 1907 – 28 August 1990) was a poet from the United Kingdom, best known for her work under the pen name Patience Strong. Her poems were usually short, simple and imbued with sentimentality, the beauty of nature and inner strength. She was also a successful lyricist, composing English words for the tango "Jealousy" and "The Dream of Olwen", and an author of several books dealing with Christianity and practical psychology

Yes, Saffie, there is a lot in life we don't really appreciate when young. Part of being young and carefree I suppose.

My love
Loo xxx