This August 16th, 2020 Elvis Presley will officially be dead more years than he lived, please help celebrate his life, music and his fans by sharing this article.
I had an aunt and uncle that grew up, met and were married listening to his music. In fact, they loved Elvis’s music their entire lives and managed to get just about everyone on both sides of their family’s hooked on him.
They were together for more than forty-five years and both worked extremely hard, struggled to get everything they had, were generous to a fault and always had a very welcoming home. It was just before my aunt was about to retire that they both decided to sell their original family home in the city and buy their dream house on the water in a small country village.
They had only spent a single summer there when the unthinkable happened, one very foggy November morning my aunt left for work and being unfamiliar with the roads, coupled with the intense amount of fog, accidentally rolled her car through a stop sign and into the path of an oncoming vehicle.She died instantly, leaving behind her husband, three adult children, seven grandchildren, three sisters, a brother, numerous sister & brother in-laws, dozens of nieces & nephews, and many friends.
I was asked to speak at her funeral and was faced with the incredible honor, and unenviable task of trying to convey my own feelings, as well as everyone else’s during this very emotional time. This is what I decided to say, I sincerely hope it brings comfort to those in grief and inspires others to remember anyone grieving the sudden and unexpected loss of a person dear to their own heart.?
If Not For You
If not for you; we may never have known.
The magic in marrying one’s soul mate.
The pleasure of a sister in-laws company.
Or the laughter shared with an aunt.
We would not have felt;
The delight in a mother’s joy.
The passion of a grandmother’s pride.
Or the sorrow in her loss.
If not for you; we may never have seen.
The compassion and generosity of one.
Who could not always afford to give.
Or the worry that came with both.
We could not have shared;
The depth of a sister’s love.
The grief in a friend’s passing.
Or the anguish of a relationship lost.
If not for you; we would have nothing to rejoice.
© Richard Lawrence Belford
It will be sixteen years this coming November sixteenth since that tragic day and eight years ago next January, also on the sixteenth that her husband passed away. I can still remember listening to Elvis’s song; Loving Arms the day my uncle died. It’s amazing how a song, coupled with the very dates my aunt and uncle passed away on can magically captivate the essence of their lives. I am grateful for having known them, and miss them both.
“How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.” ― A. A. Milne
About the Author: Richard Lawrence Belford is an inspirational writer, a father of two daughters and the eldest of three sons who grew up in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. He has been on a twenty-year creative journey that’s not only allowed him to become well published, but also afforded him the privilege of sharing his heartfelt sentiments with others that have in turn fuelled his genuine desire to provide faith, comfort and hope to those in grief.
He is also the author of “It’s Not Goodbye, It’s See You Later” an inspirational book about life, love & loss whose parables cast a more encouraging and celebratory light not on a person’s death, but on their life. A parable is a symbolic short story that illustrates or teaches some truth, religious principle or moral lesson.
The book is available from The Centering Corporation & Grief Digest Magazine’s grief resource library and worldwide on Amazon in either a paperback or kindle edition. It can also be purchased at Barnes&Noble.com in the United States and Chapters.Indigo.ca in Canada.
Richard invites you to follow him on Instagram and Twitter, like his Author’s Facebook Page or visit Facebook’s “It’s Not Goodbye, It’s See You Later Support Group” and join the increasing number of its members who believe this book will inspire you to always try & say, “I’ll see you later, instead of goodbye!”
*If you would like further information please visit: www.RichardLawrenceBelford.ca.