"Unable are the loved to die. For love is immortality." - Emily Dickinson
DEATH IS NOTHING AT ALL
Death is nothing at all.
It does not count.
I have only slipped away into the next room.
Nothing has happened.
Everything remains exactly as it was.
I am I, and you are you,
and the old life that we lived so fondly together is untouched, unchanged.
Whatever we were to each other, that we are still.
Call me by the old familiar name.
Speak of me in the easy way which you always used.
Put no difference into your tone.
Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow.
Laugh as we always laughed at the little jokes that we enjoyed together.
Play, smile, think of me, pray for me.
Let my name be ever the household word that it always was.
Let it be spoken without an effort, without the ghost of a shadow upon it.
Life means all that it ever meant.
It is the same as it ever was.
There is absolute and unbroken continuity.
What is this death but a negligible accident?
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 round the corner.
All is well.
Nothing is hurt; nothing is lost.
One brief moment and all will be as it was before.
How we shall laugh at the trouble of parting when we meet again!
Henry-Scott Holland
Do not stand at my grave and weep,
I am not there. I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow,
I am the snow on the mountain's rim,
I am the laughter in children's eyes,
I am the sand at the water's edge,
I am the sunlight on ripened grain,
I am the gentle Autumn rain,
When you awaken in the morning's hush,
I am the swift uplifting rush of quiet birds in circled flight,
I am the star that shines at night,
Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there, I did not die...
Born September 18, 1910. Died July 16, 1991. Daughter of Daniel Kirkland and Macy Mazelle Carter Griffis. Wife of William Alvin Westberry. Mother of Hazel Westberry Paesano; Hayden Chiles Westberry; Dwight Emory Westberry and Glynice Westberry. Obituary from the Waycross Journal Herald Tuesday,July 16, 1991: Mrs. Vera Griffis Westberry, 80, died early today at Memorial Hospital after a long illness. A Wayne County native, she made her home in Florida most of her life and attended the Church of God. She was the widow of William Alvin Westberry and daughter of Macy Carter and Daniel Kirkland Griffis. She is survived by a daughter, Hazel Eileen Paesano, Greensburg, PA; two sons: Dwight Emory Westberry and Hayden C. Westberry, both of Waycross; a sister, Doris Cleo Sullivan, Arcadia, Florida: twelve grandchildren, 11 great grandchildren and several nieces and nephews. Funeral will be at 4 pm Wednesday in the Miles-Odum Funeral Home chapel. Burial will be at High Bluff cemetery. The family will receive friends tonight from 7 to 9 at the funeral home. Vera had faced much tragedy and adversity in her life. Her mother, Macy Carter Griffis had died in childbirth when Vera was only fourteen years old. Her father, Daniel Kirkland Griffis died five years later in a tragic train accident. Whenever she was fifteen years old, she lost a baby girl whom she had named "Glynice." Although her life was filled with many hardships and misfortune, Vera managed to maintain her faith in God until her death on July, 16, 1991. She will never be forgotten.
I found the following poem in my mother's belongings after she passed. She was Vera's daughter, Hazel.
"The Time Is Now"
If you are ever going to love me,
Love me now while I can know
The sweet and tender feelings,
Which from true affection flow.
Love me now, while I am living...
Do not wait until I'm gone
And then have it chiseled in marble,
Sweet words on ice-cold stone.
If you have tender thoughts of me, please tell me now...
If you wait until I am sleeping, never to awaken,
There will be death between us and I won't hear you then.
So, if you love me , even a little bit,
Let me know while I am living so I can treasure it.
DEATH IS NOTHING AT ALL
Death is nothing at all.
It does not count.
I have only slipped away into the next room.
Nothing has happened.
Everything remains exactly as it was.
I am I, and you are you,
and the old life that we lived so fondly together is untouched, unchanged.
Whatever we were to each other, that we are still.
Call me by the old familiar name.
Speak of me in the easy way which you always used.
Put no difference into your tone.
Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow.
Laugh as we always laughed at the little jokes that we enjoyed together.
Play, smile, think of me, pray for me.
Let my name be ever the household word that it always was.
Let it be spoken without an effort, without the ghost of a shadow upon it.
Life means all that it ever meant.
It is the same as it ever was.
There is absolute and unbroken continuity.
What is this death but a negligible accident?
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 round the corner.
All is well.
Nothing is hurt; nothing is lost.
One brief moment and all will be as it was before.
How we shall laugh at the trouble of parting when we meet again!
Henry-Scott Holland
Do not stand at my grave and weep,
I am not there. I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow,
I am the snow on the mountain's rim,
I am the laughter in children's eyes,
I am the sand at the water's edge,
I am the sunlight on ripened grain,
I am the gentle Autumn rain,
When you awaken in the morning's hush,
I am the swift uplifting rush of quiet birds in circled flight,
I am the star that shines at night,
Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there, I did not die...
Born September 18, 1910. Died July 16, 1991. Daughter of Daniel Kirkland and Macy Mazelle Carter Griffis. Wife of William Alvin Westberry. Mother of Hazel Westberry Paesano; Hayden Chiles Westberry; Dwight Emory Westberry and Glynice Westberry. Obituary from the Waycross Journal Herald Tuesday,July 16, 1991: Mrs. Vera Griffis Westberry, 80, died early today at Memorial Hospital after a long illness. A Wayne County native, she made her home in Florida most of her life and attended the Church of God. She was the widow of William Alvin Westberry and daughter of Macy Carter and Daniel Kirkland Griffis. She is survived by a daughter, Hazel Eileen Paesano, Greensburg, PA; two sons: Dwight Emory Westberry and Hayden C. Westberry, both of Waycross; a sister, Doris Cleo Sullivan, Arcadia, Florida: twelve grandchildren, 11 great grandchildren and several nieces and nephews. Funeral will be at 4 pm Wednesday in the Miles-Odum Funeral Home chapel. Burial will be at High Bluff cemetery. The family will receive friends tonight from 7 to 9 at the funeral home. Vera had faced much tragedy and adversity in her life. Her mother, Macy Carter Griffis had died in childbirth when Vera was only fourteen years old. Her father, Daniel Kirkland Griffis died five years later in a tragic train accident. Whenever she was fifteen years old, she lost a baby girl whom she had named "Glynice." Although her life was filled with many hardships and misfortune, Vera managed to maintain her faith in God until her death on July, 16, 1991. She will never be forgotten.
I found the following poem in my mother's belongings after she passed. She was Vera's daughter, Hazel.
"The Time Is Now"
If you are ever going to love me,
Love me now while I can know
The sweet and tender feelings,
Which from true affection flow.
Love me now, while I am living...
Do not wait until I'm gone
And then have it chiseled in marble,
Sweet words on ice-cold stone.
If you have tender thoughts of me, please tell me now...
If you wait until I am sleeping, never to awaken,
There will be death between us and I won't hear you then.
So, if you love me , even a little bit,
Let me know while I am living so I can treasure it.
"Unable are the loved to die. For love is immortality." - Emily Dickinson
DEATH IS NOTHING AT ALL
Death is nothing at all.
It does not count.
I have only slipped away into the next room.
Nothing has happened.
Everything remains exactly as it was.
I am I, and you are you,
and the old life that we lived so fondly together is untouched, unchanged.
Whatever we were to each other, that we are still.
Call me by the old familiar name.
Speak of me in the easy way which you always used.
Put no difference into your tone.
Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow.
Laugh as we always laughed at the little jokes that we enjoyed together.
Play, smile, think of me, pray for me.
Let my name be ever the household word that it always was.
Let it be spoken without an effort, without the ghost of a shadow upon it.
Life means all that it ever meant.
It is the same as it ever was.
There is absolute and unbroken continuity.
What is this death but a negligible accident?
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 round the corner.
All is well.
Nothing is hurt; nothing is lost.
One brief moment and all will be as it was before.
How we shall laugh at the trouble of parting when we meet again!
Henry-Scott Holland
Do not stand at my grave and weep,
I am not there. I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow,
I am the snow on the mountain's rim,
I am the laughter in children's eyes,
I am the sand at the water's edge,
I am the sunlight on ripened grain,
I am the gentle Autumn rain,
When you awaken in the morning's hush,
I am the swift uplifting rush of quiet birds in circled flight,
I am the star that shines at night,
Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there, I did not die...
Born September 18, 1910. Died July 16, 1991. Daughter of Daniel Kirkland and Macy Mazelle Carter Griffis. Wife of William Alvin Westberry. Mother of Hazel Westberry Paesano; Hayden Chiles Westberry; Dwight Emory Westberry and Glynice Westberry. Obituary from the Waycross Journal Herald Tuesday,July 16, 1991: Mrs. Vera Griffis Westberry, 80, died early today at Memorial Hospital after a long illness. A Wayne County native, she made her home in Florida most of her life and attended the Church of God. She was the widow of William Alvin Westberry and daughter of Macy Carter and Daniel Kirkland Griffis. She is survived by a daughter, Hazel Eileen Paesano, Greensburg, PA; two sons: Dwight Emory Westberry and Hayden C. Westberry, both of Waycross; a sister, Doris Cleo Sullivan, Arcadia, Florida: twelve grandchildren, 11 great grandchildren and several nieces and nephews. Funeral will be at 4 pm Wednesday in the Miles-Odum Funeral Home chapel. Burial will be at High Bluff cemetery. The family will receive friends tonight from 7 to 9 at the funeral home. Vera had faced much tragedy and adversity in her life. Her mother, Macy Carter Griffis had died in childbirth when Vera was only fourteen years old. Her father, Daniel Kirkland Griffis died five years later in a tragic train accident. Whenever she was fifteen years old, she lost a baby girl whom she had named "Glynice." Although her life was filled with many hardships and misfortune, Vera managed to maintain her faith in God until her death on July, 16, 1991. She will never be forgotten.
I found the following poem in my mother's belongings after she passed. She was Vera's daughter, Hazel.
"The Time Is Now"
If you are ever going to love me,
Love me now while I can know
The sweet and tender feelings,
Which from true affection flow.
Love me now, while I am living...
Do not wait until I'm gone
And then have it chiseled in marble,
Sweet words on ice-cold stone.
If you have tender thoughts of me, please tell me now...
If you wait until I am sleeping, never to awaken,
There will be death between us and I won't hear you then.
So, if you love me , even a little bit,
Let me know while I am living so I can treasure it.
DEATH IS NOTHING AT ALL
Death is nothing at all.
It does not count.
I have only slipped away into the next room.
Nothing has happened.
Everything remains exactly as it was.
I am I, and you are you,
and the old life that we lived so fondly together is untouched, unchanged.
Whatever we were to each other, that we are still.
Call me by the old familiar name.
Speak of me in the easy way which you always used.
Put no difference into your tone.
Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow.
Laugh as we always laughed at the little jokes that we enjoyed together.
Play, smile, think of me, pray for me.
Let my name be ever the household word that it always was.
Let it be spoken without an effort, without the ghost of a shadow upon it.
Life means all that it ever meant.
It is the same as it ever was.
There is absolute and unbroken continuity.
What is this death but a negligible accident?
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 round the corner.
All is well.
Nothing is hurt; nothing is lost.
One brief moment and all will be as it was before.
How we shall laugh at the trouble of parting when we meet again!
Henry-Scott Holland
Do not stand at my grave and weep,
I am not there. I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow,
I am the snow on the mountain's rim,
I am the laughter in children's eyes,
I am the sand at the water's edge,
I am the sunlight on ripened grain,
I am the gentle Autumn rain,
When you awaken in the morning's hush,
I am the swift uplifting rush of quiet birds in circled flight,
I am the star that shines at night,
Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there, I did not die...
Born September 18, 1910. Died July 16, 1991. Daughter of Daniel Kirkland and Macy Mazelle Carter Griffis. Wife of William Alvin Westberry. Mother of Hazel Westberry Paesano; Hayden Chiles Westberry; Dwight Emory Westberry and Glynice Westberry. Obituary from the Waycross Journal Herald Tuesday,July 16, 1991: Mrs. Vera Griffis Westberry, 80, died early today at Memorial Hospital after a long illness. A Wayne County native, she made her home in Florida most of her life and attended the Church of God. She was the widow of William Alvin Westberry and daughter of Macy Carter and Daniel Kirkland Griffis. She is survived by a daughter, Hazel Eileen Paesano, Greensburg, PA; two sons: Dwight Emory Westberry and Hayden C. Westberry, both of Waycross; a sister, Doris Cleo Sullivan, Arcadia, Florida: twelve grandchildren, 11 great grandchildren and several nieces and nephews. Funeral will be at 4 pm Wednesday in the Miles-Odum Funeral Home chapel. Burial will be at High Bluff cemetery. The family will receive friends tonight from 7 to 9 at the funeral home. Vera had faced much tragedy and adversity in her life. Her mother, Macy Carter Griffis had died in childbirth when Vera was only fourteen years old. Her father, Daniel Kirkland Griffis died five years later in a tragic train accident. Whenever she was fifteen years old, she lost a baby girl whom she had named "Glynice." Although her life was filled with many hardships and misfortune, Vera managed to maintain her faith in God until her death on July, 16, 1991. She will never be forgotten.
I found the following poem in my mother's belongings after she passed. She was Vera's daughter, Hazel.
"The Time Is Now"
If you are ever going to love me,
Love me now while I can know
The sweet and tender feelings,
Which from true affection flow.
Love me now, while I am living...
Do not wait until I'm gone
And then have it chiseled in marble,
Sweet words on ice-cold stone.
If you have tender thoughts of me, please tell me now...
If you wait until I am sleeping, never to awaken,
There will be death between us and I won't hear you then.
So, if you love me , even a little bit,
Let me know while I am living so I can treasure it.
