A Eulogy

My friend Biow's dad passed away on Sunday, 9 January 2005.


Death is Nothing At All
by Henry Scott Holland 1847-1918,
Canon of St Paul's Cathedral

Death is nothing at all.
I have only slipped away into the next room.
I am I and you are you,
Whatever we were to each other, that we still are.

Call me by my old familiar name,
Speak to me in the easy way which you always used.
Put no difference in your tone,
wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow,

laugh as we always laughed
at the little jokes we enjoyed together.
Pray smile, think of me, pray for me.

Let my name be ever the household word that it always was.
Let it be spoken without effort,
without the trace of a shadow in it.

Life means all that it ever meant,
it is the same as it ever was.
There is unbroken continuity,
why should I be out of mind
because I am out of sight?

I am but waiting for you,
for an interval,
somewhere very near,
just around the corner.

All is well

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I recall this song as having a special place in Biow's heart. Today, it seems all the more poignant, for Biow's mum.

"If you get there before I do
Don't give up on me
I'll meet you when my chores are through
I don't know how long I'll be

But I'm not gonna let you down
Darling wait and see
And between now and then ‘til I see you again
I'll be loving you

love, me."

from "If You Get There Before I Do" by Collin Raye.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And finally:

"Who can say for certain
Maybe you’re still here
I feel you all around me
Your memories so clear.

Deep in the stillness
I can hear you speak
You’re still an inspiration
Can it be…
That you are mine
Forever love
And you are watching over me from up above

Fly me up to where you are
Beyond the distant star
I wish upon tonight
To see you smile
If only for a while to know you’re there

A breath away’s not far
To where you are."

From "To Where You Are" by Josh Groban.


In memoriam.

Sim Beck Cheong
11 May 1934 - 9 January 2005
Beloved husband, father, grandfather.