In honor of Brandon's 10th and 
Golden Birthday, we put this poem 
in our local newspaper:

 

Birthdays are a time for celebration

Not a time for tears

But what happens when the birthdays

No longer mark the years.

 

A birthday marks the moment

A spirit enters earthly life

To share it's special love and joy

And learn from earthly strife.

 

Before a spirit comes to us

It knows how and when it must depart

God chose it's path carefully

We are honored from the start.

 

The sadness we now feel

On such a special day

is longing for our loved one's touch

We can't help but feel this way.

 

For even though the birthdays

No longer mark his spirit's stay

Love continues on forever

To touch us every day.

 

So we'll hug our precious memories

Closer to our hearts

And honor our beloved spirit child

Who chose us from the start.

---

I Miss You

I know that now we are apart

Without you life seems blue,

But rest assured

You're in my mind;

I think each day of you.

Each day I commit you

To our Father's care;

I know that I can trust Him,

If you need Him, He'll be there.

I'm marking off each passing day

'Til we meet again

So don't forget me - I love you,

And I'll miss you until then.

---

There's a corner up in heaven

Where the little babies play

And our Blessed Mother watches

All throughout the live-long day.

 

They're a happy lot, these babies,

Sure the reason's very plain;

For they've missed the world's contagion;

Came unscathed, without it's pain.

 

'Tis an angel band they call them,

And you both should happy be;

You're the parents of an angel,

'Cause your baby's there you see.

 

Yes, and smiling down upon you

With an innocence sublime;

Waiting, watching for the parents

It will meet again in time.

 

You should never be rebellious;

Rather thank a loving God

For your little guardian angel,

As along life's way you plod.

 

With a faith that never falters,

Clasping each the other's hand,

Pledge yourselves to meet your baby

In that better happy land.

                   Rev. L. J. Flynn

---

The Rose

A rose once grew where all could see,

sheltered behind a garden wall

and as the days passed swiftly by,

it spread it's branches straight and tall.

 

One day a beam of light

shown through a crevice that opened wide

The rose bent gently toward it's warmth

then passed beyond to the other side.

 

Now, you who deeply feel it's loss,

be comforted the rose blooms there

it's beauty even greater now,

nurtured by God's loving care.
Author unknown