Life Is A Journey
 

Birth is a beginning, 
And death a destination, 
But life is a journey, 
A going--a growing 
From stage to stage. 

From childhood to maturity 
And youth to age. 
From innocence to awareness 
And ignorance to knowing; 
From foolishness to discretion 
And then perhaps to wisdom. 

From weakness to strength 
Or strength to weakness-- 
And, often, back again. 
From health to sickness 
And back, we pray, to health again. 

From offense to forgiveness, 
From loneliness to love, 
From joy to gratitude, 
From pain to compassion, 
And grief to understanding-- 
From fear to faith. 

From defeat to defeat to defeat-- 
Until, looking backward or ahead, 
We see that victory lies 
Not at some high place along the way, 
But in having made the journey, 
Stage by stage-- 
A sacred pilgrimage. 

Birth is beginning, 
And death a destination; 
But life is a journey, 
A sacred pilgrimage 
Made stage by stage-- 
From birth to death 
To life everlasting.

All things pass; all that lives must die. All that we prize is but lent to us, and the time comes when we must surrender it. We are travelers on the same road that leads to the same end.

When we are dead, and people weep for us and grieve, let it be because we touched their lives with beauty and simplicity. Let it not be said that life was good to us, but, rather, that we were good to life. – Jacob Philip Rudin

As in the world around us, so too in human life: darkness is followed by light, and sorrow by consolation. Life and death are twins; grief and hope walk hand in hand. Although we cannot know what lies beyond the body’s death, we put our trust in the undying Spirit that calls us into life and abides to all eternity.

I know you will be dancing for all of eternity Grandma. I love you.