My friend, Gil Gonzales shared with me this poem by David Harkins. It’s so honest and true. God willing it will reach out to others too who have “lost” someone special. It gives hope to those of us who grieve that there is some way out of the darkness. That the beautiful memories and love we shared with our “lost loved ones” will live on forever.
Mommy, I know you’re smiling tonight. I love you.
“She is Gone” (Short poem by David Harkins of Silloth, Cumbria in the United Kingdom)
You can shed tears that she is gone
Or you can smile because she has lived
You can close your eyes and pray that she will come back
Or you can open your eyes and see all that she has left
Your heart can be empty because you can’t see her
Or you can be full of love that you shared
You can turn your back on tomorrow and live yesterday
Or you can be happy for tomorrow because of yesterday
You can remember her only that she is gone
Or you can cherish her memory and let it live on
You can cry and close your mind, be empty and turn you back
Or you can do what she would want: smile, open your eyes, love and go on.
(Read more about why Mariel will forever be in our hearts here)
Mariel's Garden 
i like most the smiles on the photos, bong. the poem is beautiful too.
Thanks Doc Eddie, Smiling these days does not come that easy to me. But reading poems like this and looking at pictures of our happier times do bring back some the cheer once in a while. Its a tough journey but friends like you make it a little bearable.
All the best to you and the family.
hi… this is truly a lovely poem…i think wherever your wife now she would be happy to see this “Or you can do what she would want: smile, open your eyes, love and go on”.I know each day for you is a long journey,a winding road that you take a step by step and each day make it really tough.But think that in your battle your not alone your family, your baby and your friends are always at your back…
Godbless
Dear Rhosie,
Thank you for the good wishes. It’s tough but the road gets a little easier though with your kindness. Please visit Mariel’s little garden whenever you have the time, I promise to keep it blooming with her loving memories and beautiful life of love.
All the best to you,
Bong
What a lovely photo – you must treasure it. You can tell by your smiles you were having fun!
The poem of course is just wonderful – it is simple but says it all. Thanks for sharing.
A great philosophy in the poem, though kinda hard to do sometimes. We take on both the pain of loss and the joy of love — we carry them both, right? But it’s good to remember that we carry the love still within us….
Hello Writinggb, it’s so ironic that the love within could be both the source of and the solution to the pain we feel. Someone said before that grief is the price we pay for love. This one I’ll gladly accept for the privilege of having shared my life with Mariel.
All the best to you.
Wilma and Fred. Yes, I like this picture. It fits for me, too.
Yes Robert, I remember you telling me this one before.
We, husbands, are so lucky to have our wives prop us up when we can’t help but be our usual bungling selves. God bless all women, wives and mothers.
Warm regards from Manila.