Emory

In Loving Memory of Emory Blaine Cooper
Wonderful, loving grandfather

But Virgil had bereav'd us of himself,
Virgil, my best-lov'd father; Virgil, he
To whom I gave me up for safety: nor,

All, our prime mother lost, avail'd to save
My undew'd cheeks from blur of soiling tears.
Dante, Purgatorio, Canto XXX, Lines 49 - 53

Were a star quenched on high,
For ages would its light,
Still travelling downward from the sky,
Shine on our mortal sight.

When a good man dies,
For years beyond his ken,
The light he leaves behind him shines
Along the path of men.
Alexander Russell Main, from "Life of A. B. Maston," by G. P. Pittman

Death, be not proud, though some have called thee

Mighty and dreadful, for thou are not so;
For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow
Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,
Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow,
And soonest our best men with thee do go,
Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery.
Thou'art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell,
And poppy'or charms can make us sleep as well
And better than thy stroke; why swell'st thou then?
One short sleep past, we wake eternally,
And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.
John Donne, Holy Sonnet 10

I will never forget Papa.

I will always miss him, but I know I will see him again.

I'm so grateful, especially at this time, for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ whose infinite Atonement broke the bands of death and will bring resurrection to all mankind.