Weep if you must

Joyce expressed things so well. I must remember this. Thank you.

Moving indeed and emotional for friends and family but somehow reassuring.I hope we all know when the time comes to slip away and are at peace with it. I think my mother was.

Soutra - I'm so sorry to hear about your friend. How lovely - and how good - that she recited this piece. It'll stay with you.

Those words were so lovely, I had to look up the rest of the poem

If I Should Go - Joyce Grenfell

(Often Called - If I Should Die)

If I should go before the rest of you
Break not a flower nor inscribe a stone
Nor when I'm gone speak in a Sunday voice
But be the usual selves that I have known
Weep if you must
Parting is hell
But life goes on
So sing as well.

Joyce Grenfell

JG was an amazing lady with so many different sides to her.

I am sorry you are losing your friend Soutra - it is so hard. Hospice care is excellent and let us hope they will make it possible for her to slip away peacefully.

Soutra I'm so sorry to hear about your friend's illness, but yes, this poem does show that she still has an understanding of her situation and the desire to make light of it. for you - it's hard to stand by and wait for the death of a friend or loved one.

So sorry to hear about your friend Soutra. This story reminds me of a dear friend who died 8 years ago - who comforted the rest of us when we visited her and tried and failed to keep it together (not proud of myself for that). There is often a dignity and bravery in people who are dying that is reassuring for the rest of us.

May your friend slip away peacefully

My godmother was a Joyce Grenfell fan and I read this at her funeral. Very moving... I struggled to say the words. Joyce Grenfell was gifted in so many ways.

That was indeed brave joyBloggs

Soutra

Soutra. A friend of mine died last year in a hospice nearby after a very short illness. She was only 52 bless her heart

So very sorry to hear about your friend but isn't it moving how our loved ones try to comfort us. It reminds me of the last hours of my mother who was only 59 when she died. She had lots of brothers and sisters and three children and we were all at her bedside. After several hours of being asleep she suddenly woke up looked around the room and said 'What are you all doing here?' and then proceeded to sing 'I do like to be beside the seaside' which made us all laugh through our tears. She then went back to sleep and quietly slipped away.

So sorry to hear this. I read this at our dear friend's (an eccentric Vicar) funeral a couple of years ago. It is beautiful and fitting for him.

Sorry to hear about your friend Soutra. I am always amazed at people who have the ability to read moving poems, anecdotes etc at funerals, as I'm sure I would never be able to.This is an excellent poem to be read at a funeral, very uplifting.

Just to add she passed away peacefully earlier this morning.

That's so sad Soutra, ((hug)) and
My thoughts are with you x

Sad.

So sorry soutra.
My cousin died in a hospice last week. He'd been suffering from an aggressive type of cancer. I am attending his funeral on Friday. He was only 62, and is the first of our cousins to go.

"Life is a dream walking, death is going home"

Sorry to bear about your friend, Soutra.

So sorry soutra
for you too hilda, I was in that situation a few months ago when the first of my cousins died in a hospice.

So sad for you Soutra.

Sorry to hear that Soutra.

Soutra and Hilda