A big thanks to Linda, one of Matthew’s physio’s for sending us the pictures of the prayer flag flying at Everest. You can see the photos she sent us. In one of them, you can see Matthew’s flag very clearly.
Poems read at Matthew’s Celebration of Life
The Day God Took You Home
(Author unknown)
In tears we saw you sinking,
And watched you pass away.
Our hearts were almost broken,
We wanted you to stay.
But when we saw you sleeping,
So peaceful, free from pain,
How could we wish you back with us,
To suffer that again.
It broke our hearts to lose you,
But you did not go alone,
For part of us went with you,
The day God took you home.
A Child Loaned
(Edward A Guest)
I’ll lend you for a little time a child of mine’, he said,
‘For you to love the while he lives, and mourn for when he’s dead.
He may be six or seven years, or even two or three,
But will you, till I call him back, take care of him for me?
He’ll bring his charm to gladden you, and, should his stay be brief,
You’ll have his lovely memories as solace for your grief.
I cannot promise he will stay, since all from earth return,
But there are lessons taught down there I want this child to learn.
I’ve looked the wide world over in my search for teachers true
And from the throng that crowd life’s lanes I have selected you.
Now will you give him all your love, nor think the labour’s vain,
Nor hate me when I come to call and take him back again?’
I fancied that I heard them say, ‘Dear Lord, thy will be done,
For all the joys thy child shall bring the risk of grief we’ll run.
We’ll shelter him with tenderness, we’ll love him while we may
And for the happiness we’ve known for ever grateful stay.
But, should the angels call for him much sooner than we’d planned
We’ll brave the bitter grief that comes and try to understand.
This is the poem that was being read as the balloons were released
Thinking of You
(Author unknown)
We thought of you with love today,
But that was nothing new.
We thought about you yesterday,
And the days before that too.
We think of you in silence,
We often speak your name.
All we have are memories,
And your picture in a frame.
Your memory is our keepsake,
With which we will never part.
God has you in His keeping,
We have you in our hearts.
A million times we’ve wanted you,
A million times we’ve cried.
If love could only have saved you,
You never would have died.
It broke our hearts to lose you,
But you did not go alone.
For a part of us went with you…
The day God called you home
Dedication to Matthew
This is the text of the prayer flag that was flown for Matthew at Mount Everest Base Camp in early November. When I have pictures, they will be put up here.
Matthew,
You are our Special Little Boy
Thank you for coming into out lives
And filling us with so much joy.
Memories of your bright eyes and little smile
Light up Our World.
Thank you for precious moments when you held our hands
And twitched your little toes,
And raised your eyebrows when you were excited.
Your strength and love against All Odds
Will forvever be an inspiration.
May you always be happy and strong
You will always be in our hearts
All our love forever,
Mummy & Daddy
Thank You
I just wanted to say thank you to everyone for your kind comments, thoughts and emails that you have been expressing to Jen and myself during this time. For those that have donated some money towards Matthew’s memorial tile, we especially thank you, and want to let you know that so far the total raised is over $1000, which will go towards the purchase of much needed equipment and supplies for the NICU at BC Children’s Hospital in Vancouver.
Jen and I are now back home, trying our best to return back to our old lives, but obviously, this is a very difficult thing for us to do. I have returned to work, for now, part time, but soon full-time, and Jen goes back to work this coming Friday and Saturday in Vancouver, but this is going to be extremely tough on her, as I won’t be there with her.
I will continue to add some more pictures, videos and some blog entries in the next few weeks. I hope to have some pictures of the prayer flag flying at Everest Base Camp soon – we look forward to seeing those pictures.