Poems for Grandparents

These are written for Grandmothers but can be adapted for Grandfathers as well.

You can shed tears that she is gone
Or you can smile because she has lived.
You can close your eyes and pray that she’ll come back
Or you can open your eyes and see all that she has left.
Your heart can be empty because you can’t see her
Or you can be full of the love you shared
You can turn your back on tomorrow and live yesterday
Or you can be happy for tomorrow, because of yesterday
You can remember her and only that she’s gone
Or you can cherish her memory and let it live on

The cares of the world concern me no longer.
I have completed this life. My work is done, the children of my heart grown.
My family is well on their journey and happy and healthy in their pursuits…
I have loved much and well
To those I leave behind,
I hope I will remain in their hearts as they will in mine…
Thank you for taking such good care of me
And all of you who have been my friends,
thank you for teaching me about life and about love.
Go in peace and in blessings for the day.

Remember Me

Remember me with smiles not tears,
For all the joy through all the years.
Recall the closeness that was ours,
A love as "sweet" as fragrant flowers.
Don't dwell on thoughts that cause you pain,
We'll see each other once again.
I am at peace...try to believe,
It was my time...I had to leave.
But "what a view", I have from here,
I see your face, I feel you near,
I follow you throughout the day,
You're not alone along the way.
And when god calls you...you will be ,
Right by my side...right here with me.
Till then, I'll wait by heaven's door,
We'll be united...evermore!

Grandmother

As our journey together ends
We will be at your side through
The long night vigil
We will walk with you through
The valley of lengthening shadows
Loving and comforting you.
But as your journey takes a turn
On the road we've never traveled
We must let you go
Than you for leaving us with memories to
Mend our broken hearts
Joy comes in the morning
Because now you are home.

While we honor all our mothers
With words of love and praise.
While we tell about their goodness
And their kind and loving ways.
We should also think of Grandma,
she's a mother too, you see....
For she mothered my dear mother
As my mother mother’d me.

I had an angel here beside me,
Sent to Earth to help and guide me,
An angel always there for me
Sent to love and care for me.
She did the things that angels should:
She taught me what was bad and good,
She gave me hope when no one cared,
She held my hand when I was scared,
She cheered me up when I was down
(She could make a smile from a frown),
She doctored me when I was sick,
And many another angel trick.
Today my angel earned her wings
Her harp, halo and other things.
But today I am lost and all alone
For today God took my grandma home.

They talk about a grandmother's sphere,
As though it had a limit;
There's not a place in earth or heaven,
There's not a task to mankind given,
There's not a blessing or a woe,
There's not a whisper, Yes or No,
There's not a life, or death, or birth,
That has a feather's weight of worth,
Without a grandmother in it.
Lives of great women all remind us
We can make our lives sublime
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time.

-Adapted from Henry W. Longfellow