Memorial Stories and Poems - "At the Crossroads of Life and Death"

For my Aunt Helen Jantzen, at your Crossroads of Life and Death
You Have .......
You have walked life’s road, lo, these many years
together in body and heart;
You have shared the dreams, the joys and the tears
of two lives that now must part.

You have been called to that test we are all called to take
when a spirit you must release;
You have been called to the shores of a mighty lake
where that spirit will find it’s peace.

You have reason to take the time to grieve
and release your husband for life;
You have reason to know that what you believe
will sustain his widowed wife.

You have walked the valleys so shadowed and still,
with nary a trace of light;
You have climbed those mountains of the human will,
that have proved life’s road so right.

You have tested the boundaries of spiritual thought,
and found that no boundaries exist;
You have learned together what the Spirit has taught,
and your lives did this truth consist.

You have traveled those rivers through the canyons of life
where the current runs swift and deep;
You have tasted together the victories so rife,
and those memories you now must keep.

You have given much through the months and years
of a life you have shared from your heart;
You have sown those seeds through your many tears,
and those seeds have bloomed from the start.

You have been given the blessing of long years shared,
through so many fine things to recall;
You have been given the strength of a spirit paired
with a Creator who cares for it all.

You have been given much through those halls of Time,
and much you should now recall;
You have memories of life no words can rhyme,
and your heart will remember them all.

You have, you see, that privilege of grief
and the healing that it will bring;
You have the gift of Time, and Time’s relief,
that will cause your heart to sing.

You have the chords of that song buried deep inside,
and it’s notes will yet be heard;
You have God’s assurance running deep and wide,
that the chorus will ete
ity gird.

You have .......
Love, Honor, and Respect Always,
Your nephew,
Menno Kenneth Matthiesr
July 22, 1996