Wish You Were Here

My cousin Aubrey wrote this poem while we were at our family cabin this past Labor Day. It was one of Chad's favorite places to be... I thought that it was perfect to post on the first anniversary of his spirit leaving this life.

As we sit here at your favorite place,
Our faces in the firelight glow.
We all have sorrow in our eyes,
'Cause deep down inside we know.
The loss we feel since you have gone,
Has brought us all to tears,
We all feel pain, but no one tells,
Oh how we wish you were here!
Since you've gone we've learned some things,
We wish weren't learned this way.
But sometimes life's most important things,
Are realized when taken away.
Funny how a picture's just a picture,
Until someone in it's gone.
Then it's something we all treasure,
'Cause it helps you linger on.
Funny how a song's just a song,
Until it's one that brings you near.
Then we laugh and cry until it ends,
And it's almost like you're here.
Funny how the love we feel,
Is something that we hide.
'Til someone that we love is gone,
Then it's no longer kept inside.
Funny how the petty things,
Don't matter much at all.
When what used to mean the most to you,
Suddenly seems so small.
No one should have to learn this way,
To know what real love means.
And the importance of a family-
Now in our eyes it gleams.
Although we hate to have you gone,
Your life within us burns.
As our capacity to love increases,
And life's importance's we learn.

Aubrey Jeppson
September 6,2009
For Chad England