Meghan Ambrozevich-Blair (The girl on the swing)

Meghan’s tragically brief life was full, and inspirational, and she touched many people throughout her time with us. We’ll share just a few of the many memories you have of the person you knew and loved.

Meghan’s passing has come far to early for her and for all those who knew and loved her. It is desperately hard to accept and difficult to deal with. Our lives are full of “ifs” and shattered dreams. Our emotions fly from one mood to another and the grief can be overwhelming. It would be Meghan’s wish for us to celebrate the wonderful life that she lived and, in doing so, to remember her with a smile.

By remembering her life, and how she touched your lives, you can keep her with you forever. Meghan will be remembered whenever you see a lop-eared rabbit, or Fireman Sam, whenever you exchange “Megisms” or, lets be honest, whenever anyone passes wind!

Jack London said these words about death and they seem fitting for Meghan: I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.

Meghan certainly used her time.

Meghan is no longer with us as we knew her, but her life will forever be linked to yours and you will carry her with you in your hearts. The anonymous poem called “Remember Me” gives a calming message:

To the living, I am gone
To the sorrowful, I will never return
To the angry, I was cheated
But to the happy, I am at peace.
I cannot speak, but I can listen
I cannot be seen, but I can be heard
So, as you stand upon a shore gazing at a beautiful sea
As you look upon a flower and admire its simplicity
Remember me.
Remember me in your heart
Your thoughts and memories
Of the times we loved
The times we cried
The time we fought
The times we laughed
For if you always think of me
I will never be gone.

Meghan wasn’t perfect, as none of us are, but who made her mark wherever she went. A woman who wanted to care for, and improve, the world and had started to do so. I’d like now to give you a selection of snapshots of the life of a vibrant, opinionated, stubborn, dynamic woman who loved, and was very much loved, by her friends and family.

Meghan Ambrozevich-Blair was born in the Simpson’s on 6th February 1990. The lack of a middle name always annoyed Meghan but she wasn’t too fussed about her nickname – fart pants!

Meghan was the eldest child of Lauren, a classroom assistant at the local primary school, and Kevin, who worked at the cement works and as a Firefighter. Meghan was immensely proud of her dad. Meghan’s brothers are Jared, who is a year younger than her and Ethan the youngest.

Meghan was a happy wee girl with an outgoing character. At toddler group, she rode round and round the hall singing a song she’d learned from the Little Mermaid, much to the consternation of the poor wee boy with the hearing aids. Childhood days were spent playing outside with the local kids or piling up cushions to build castles. With several cousins of the same age, there were picnics in the park, outings to Coco’s, playing hotels at Granny’s real hotel, naked paddling pool parties, watching Meghan’s favourite Disney films, the Lion King, Pocohontas, and of course, the Little Mermaid. Summer’s were spent rock pooling and mini beast safaris. They joined in the John Muir ranger activities and loved the family outings to Vogrie park. There were huge family gatherings at Haggerston, sometimes several caravans of family and friends. The kids would all rush over to the park to make friends. They had a wonderful time on the Paddle boats, daisy cars, ponies, meeting Bradley bear, and playing bingo. Family holidays which everyone loved, were to county Donegal to visit Granny.

Blue Wicked

These kids weren’t perfect of course. There is still discussion as to who has the scar under their lip and cousin Roxanne’s biggest scar came from playing with Meghan. She wasn’t shy of the odd practical joke either. Poor Michaela is a bit younger than Meghan and Roxanne, so she was the innocent sent to greet the new neighbours with a new word they’d learned “Bastard”. Michaela called it out several times in a very friendly way, with Meghan and Roxanne splitting their sides. The new neighbours quickly complained to their Parents. Strangely the family didn’t stay in the area very long!

But Meghan could be quite a sensitive child sometimes. She always cared about everything around her. When she learned about bacteria, she was worried about sitting or stepping on them and hurting them. She cried when she managed to turn her belly button inside out (Who wouldn’t?)! Her answer to Kevin’s bedtime prank of dressing up like a mummy was to line up the stuffed toy cats, nose to tail, like the Egyptians, to protect her from these scary creatures if they visited in the night. She was particularly upset when she realised that her cousin Amy, who had a different accent from her, has “Sare Shidders” and she didn’t. It took some convincing that she did instead have two shidders, and they weren’t sare, and that was a good thing.

As she grew up Meghan learned Karate, joined the Beavers and was the first girl Cub, becoming a scout leader as part of her Duke of Edinburgh award when she was older. She loved her horse riding every Saturday at Innerwick and helped out at the stables so she got to stay there all day.

Meghan was a great big sister. She’d bring home some of her school snack to share with Jared and if she went to a party, she made sure to bring some of the cake back for her brothers. She looked out for her brothers at school, protecting them and keeping their secrets from their parents. Not that there were many in this family, but no young man needs his drinking exploits described in detail to his mum and dad and Meghan wasn’t about to do that. When Ethan was very young, he didn’t walk until he was 18 months old because Meghan and Jared did everything for him. Mind you, in later years, Meghan’s “personal habits involving wind” put him off scampi for life.

Meghan also organised her brothers to her own advantage. They all ganged up on their parents one Christmas and asked for a dog. Meghan knew that there would be objections, so they done a project and had worked out exactly what dog to get. They had an answer for everything – allergies, who would take care of it, where to get it. Frizbee, the miniature Schnauzer was welcomed into the family and, as promised Meghan and Jared took turns to walk her every morning.

As a young child Meghan enjoyed a bit of fun and TV, with some of her favourites being Pinky Punky, in Timmy Mallet, and Whack-a-day. And what we girl in the 90’s didn’t love to dance to Five or Aqua singing “Barbie Girl”, and “Saturday night”?

Life wasn’t straight forward for the teenage Meghan. She suffered greatly from depression and it is testament to her determination and tenacity that she worked hard to get passed that. She even posted very personal information on Facebook to face her depression and to share it to help others. She called it “Free Me Day”.

Throughout that illness, Meghan still forged on with the things she knew she should be doing, and in spite of the struggle, she enjoyed them. She reluctantly went to see the Chuckle Brothers, and loved it, getting their autographs. She was the one who got on stage with the hypnotist in Ireland, getting quite irate that her contact lens had apparently been dropped, demanding that the audience find it, and telling her parents off for their disgusting behaviour, having believed the hypnotist story while she was under his power. She was given a leprechaun to take home and showed him off to the audience, and was devastated the next morning when he had disappeared.

Throughout her life, Meghan’s passion was animal welfare. She adopted her cause early. As a small child she saved worms, moving them to safe places. This act was repeated recently at a Macmillan 10k walk, when people had to go in single file at one part as it had been raining. They had to queue up and wait as Meghan was once again moving worms out of the way so they wouldn’t be stood on.

Meghan’s first Rabbit set the standard for the rest of her life. She knew everything about those animals. During a stint in her teens, working at East Links Family park, she went home carrying a box one evening. The dwarf, lop-eared rabbit needed to be hand reared. She said it was “Just for the night”. Charlie Pickles quickly became part of the family and Meghan carefully fed him with a syringe every night until he could feed himself.

Meghan went to Dunbar Primary School and then onto Dunbar Grammar. She was an easy pupil to have at school, working hard to overcome her challenges with dyslexia and dyscalculia. Now, dyslexia is one of those things that can get you into odd situations. Meghan was delighted to see a sign held by a group of people in London announcing “Free Plasticine”. She had to have it explained to her that it was a protest to “Free Palestine”. Meghan received many a gift of Plasticine after that.

Meghan carried her determined work ethic right through her education, always spending many more hours than her peers to achieve her goals. After leaving school, she went to Barony College to do an HNC in animal care. She was awarded Student of the Year. Next came an HND in animal care. Again, she was awarded Student of the Year.

When she left college , Meghan set up a business dog walking and pet sitting. She’d send the owners photos and postcards of what their animals were up to while they were away. However she found the work a bit lonely and decided the best way to care for animals is through humans. So she applied to train to become a veterinary nurse. Again, she worked long hours through her four years at Napier to become the best nurse she could be. Her dissertation was on improving compassion in vet practices and towards each other. She believed that, if humans look after each other, they’d look after animals better. Meghan sat her last exam the day before the accident.

Throughout her student years, Meghan also worked. She had jobs at Galedin Vets in Berwick, Greenside Vets in ST Boswells and Vets for Pets in Straiton. She volunteered at Gorgie City farm and Edinburgh Zoo. When she left the city farm, she bought them water hoses as a gift. Meghan also helped out at Arthurshiel animal rehoming centre in ST Boswells. She returned from there once with a guinea pig. She did ask if it was okay to bring it home – but it was already in the car!

Fooling around.

Meghan also volunteered abroad. First she was in Thailand for a month volunteering with children through The Real Gap. Next time she went to Thailand by herself, she worked with stray animals. The first week was spent at the Tiger Temple, where she was attacked by a tiger and bore a scar on her leg. She didn’t like how the tigers were treated, so she went elsewhere to help build an animal shelter, where she was bitten by a dog.

As well as South East Asia, Meghan volunteered in India, teaching vets about animal care. Meghan had a vast knowledge of animals. Her cousins remember all the detailed instructions and demonstrations about how to handle rabbits when they got one. She was very environmentally aware and was passionate about anything that lived. No point in asking her who the Prime Minister was though, she had no interest in that.

William Wordsworth once said that the best portion of a good persons life is their little nameless unremembered acts of kindness and love. Meghan had such a big heart. Even through the difficult teenage years, she never stopped thinking of others, helping and raising funds. We’ve heard about her volunteering here and abroad. But there was much more from this generous young woman.

When she worked in a café in Edinburgh, she gave a coffee to a homeless man she’d befriended, every night after closing. When the rest of the staff were taking leftover cakes home, Meghan was dishing them out in the neighbourhood.

Meghan had fun when she was helping people. She’d use any excuse to dress up and was always first at the Fireman Sam costume at fire brigade events. She was always first on the dance floor. She did dancing and running to raise funds. In October 2013, she abseiled down the Forth Rail Bridge to raise funds for the SSPCA. It took several attempts to get over the edge properly as she was so terrified but she was as ever determined. The following year she swam with tiger sharks, at Deep Sea World, to raise money for Arthurshiel’s animal shelter, near Melrose.

Meghan’s kindness and strong will was felt at home, too. Recently, when Kevin was awarded Queen’s Fire Service Medal, the invitation to The Palace was for four people. Meghan was having none of it. She contacted Holyrood and said that theirs was a very close family and that there was five of them. The extra invitation was immediately extended.

When her cousin Daniel had a stroke nearly two years ago, young Ynyra wasn’t allowed to visit him. So she and Meghan made a sign and hung it on The Wishing Tree at Presmennan, and sent a picture of it to Daniel. It read “happiness is to love and be loved – to Daniel from Ynyra.

The Wishing Tree, Meghan’s tree. She chose it because she thought it was dead, so it wouldn’t be harmed by the messages hung from it. It’s also close to the path and many people have hung messages on it over the years.

The Wishing Tree played a big part and Meghan’s life in the last few years, not least because that’s where she became engaged to Scot.

Meghan met Scot, in the Castle pub, in September 2014. It’s been said the Meghan fell for Scot because he looks like Milo

Meghan and Scot were a team. He put the food in front of her when she was studying – and because she wasn’t world’s greatest cook, though her soup was pretty good. Meghan he shared the same principles. Both veggies, they watched “Cowspiracy” recently and turned to each other and said “I guess we’re vegans now then?”. No question. They went to vegan food festivals together. They loved to cycle and go on adventures around Scotland.

They’d go for meals and watch Netflix. Meghan had nightmares after the first episode of American Horror Story, even although he’s a good guy. They loved a good music gig and look forward to festival season.

With great difficulty, on Saturday the 23rd May 2015, Meghan was taken to The Wishing Tree after a long lunch out with Lauren and Ange, Scot’s mum. Kevin, Scot, and of course, Milo, had been waiting for a while. It was worth the wait. Meghan said yes.

On the 24th of November, 2016, Meghan and Scot moved into a new home in Hanes Drive and, instantly, they took custody of Milo. they would be married on the 21st of July 2017, in Dunbar Town House and the reception, perfect for women keen on a bargain, would include everybody who wanted to join in, at Audio Soup. No doubt she’d again get Scot on the dance floor, just like at their engagement, for the second time in his life. There was to be a bubble machine specially for Ange. as Meghan liked to say, “There’s no angry way to say bubbles”.

Meghan’s hen was to be with a bridesmaids, drinking herbal tea, with face packs and movies. I’m not sure if Bob, the Bridesman was going to have a face pack or not. Probably he was. Bob, Megan’s closest friend, a nuclear submarine weapons engineer, dressed up as a woman and also went on the zombie run. Why? Because Meghan wanted him to

Meghan was single-minded. She drove her family nuts on many occasions. Her granny had to strap her into a supermarket trolley as a wee girl to stop her running off, and Scot said he never thought so much love would be such a challenge. But her granny got gifts from her too, like the plant that took over half the house, and everybody got smiles, laughter and an education into caring for our world. Megan’s short life was full of compassion and love. She had her ups and downs, which she bore with strength and good measure of characteristic determination. She was the life and soul of any party. Her ability to love was boundless and, in turn she was loved by everyone whose lives she touched. She will be very greatly missed

A section of a speech given by Chief Seattle in 1854, which probably reflects Meghan’s view of how the word works. and what she like to pass on to everyone she leaves behind.

What is man without the beasts if the Beast?
If the beasts were gone men would die from a great Loneliness of spirit.
For whatever happens to the beasts soon happens to man.
All things are connected.
Whatever befalls the Earth befalls the sons of the earth.
Man did not leave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it.
Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.

Meghan’s cousin, Amy Blair-Ingle, and her mum and dad have written these words in tribute to Meghan:

I’ve known Meghan since she was born, I never ever thought this day would come. Megan wasn’t just my cousin she was my best friend. The one person I would go to for everything, she was always there for me no matter what it was, she would always have some crazy saying or a quote to go with it.

Megs was the most kind, caring, colourful and inspirational person I’ve ever met and sadly Flynn will now have to grow up without her wise words and silliness. However, Megs will still always be part of us, the stories of what we used to get up to will most definitely be passed on to Flynn and of course the daft ones to, like the time Megs freaked out because she turned her bellybutton the wrong way and thought she would be stuck with an outy forever, she did however fix it

Megs you will forever be my best friend and then my heart forever, love you always dude.

The special memories of you will always bring a smile,
If only I could have you back for just a little while.
Then we could sit and talk again just like we used to do,
You always meant so much and always will do too.
The fact that you’re no longer here will always cause me pain,
But you are forever in my heart until we meet again.

From Lauren:

Dear Meghan,

I never knew I could feel so much pain and still be alive.
The day you were born, our lives changed forever and what an adventure has been.
When Jared and then Ethan were born your heart simply got bigger.
Your teenage years were difficult, for someone as caring as you, but you just grew stronger.
Your dad was always your hero which in later years absolutely infuriated you because no boyfriend could possibly ever live up to your dad, but then came Scot, who had potential, and could cook! But what about the five-year plan? You struggled, but you being you, just came up with a new five year plan with Scot and having a family close to us at it centre. I’m devastated at the loss of the future for you, Scott and us.

I loved our walks, or sometimes stomps, in the fields and woods. Having mutually helpful discussions and creating solutions about the world, our lives and relationships. Ok, some may call it moaning but we always came back happier for it. Unfortunately you inherited my sense of direction and we had a fair few adventures before we would have to give in a call your dad. I’ll always treasure the time we spent together especially those adventures.

You loved inspirational quotes and when you picked one, you lived it, and we had to too! Hear are some,
“If you don’t like it change it or stop complaining”
“Don’t talk about it do”
“Build your own rainbow”
“Live your daydream”
“Be a random act of kindness”
“If you find something difficult just get better at it”
“you can only fail if you don’t try”
“Don’t just be a human being, be a human doing”
“Dust is what gives a home a warm fuzzy feeling”
“Be the person your dog thinks you are”
“Don’t wait for the rain to pass, learn to dance in the rain”

“There comes a point where you realise shit happens in life. What matters most is how you handle yourself to the bad moments. Don’t let unpleasant situations define you. Reach deep within yourself and find your power to rise. Overcome and become even stronger than you were before. Don’t ever stop reaching for your happiness”.

Always the most important one was, “you can only do your best” and Meghan, your best was just simply astonishing.

What amazed me and often made me laugh, was how wise you were while still managing to keep your beautiful childhood innocence and wonder at the world around you which was infectious to all who met you.

The ripples of your life and ideals you lived by a still going on and even increasing. I’ve heard “what would Meghan say”, “what would Meghan do”. Michaela and Shannon, with a huge field dogs, spent hours trying to help round up a German Shepherd because they knew you wouldn’t have passed it by.

Meghan you would never have passed by anyone or anything when help is needed and you have left us the legacy of your compassion, which through all of us is going to make the world a better place.

In the words of the great philosopher Winnie the Pooh “how lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard”
I will love you and keep you in my heart forever, night night sweet dreams, mum xxx

From Kevin:

Meghan I’m ashamed to say there are so many things I didn’t know about you. Your little acts of kindness being just one. I cried when Michaela told us how you befriended a homeless person at the cafe in the square and how, at the end of the night you took him coffee and leftover cakes. This sums you up perfectly, my hard-working, caring, kind, beautiful loving Daughter.

I loved the night we sat out on the decking, chatting about nothing in particular and listening to music. The others had gone inside as they felt it was too cold to sit outside. I took a snapshot of you that night and it’s one of my favourite pictures of you.
I wish we’d done that more often.

You used to look to me to fix things and I’m so sorry I can’t fix things for you this time.

Our roles are reversed. After hearing all the wonderful things that people have been saying about you, you are the real Hero. The hero I didn’t realise we had.

I’m going to miss you terribly terribly bad. But from this day forward whenever difficult decisions need to be made I’m going to ask myself what would Meghan do. I know if I applying this philosophy I won’t go far wrong.

Keep on smiling my beautiful daughter you shall remain inside me forever.

Dad xxx

Scots tribute

This is a story about how my life was turned upside down
So I just like to take a minute while you sit right there
To tell you about me and Meghan-Ambrozevich Blair.
The first time I saw Meghan I knew already that she was the most beautiful person I’d ever seen. I also decided (and so did the people I was with) that I had no chance.

The next time I saw her was the day met. She was dancing in a hippy-skirt with her wolf-dog, and I was smiling so widely.

It all started in the simplest way I was friendly, I smiled, and said “Hi”. That’s it, the happiest and best time of my life started with a smile, and a Hi.

We immediately knew there was a spark, a great connection, not just of like minds but souls. We came from totally different backgrounds, but shared the same humour, the same fun, and the same love for life.

We were “official” within two weeks (and she asked me! I just thought we were already going out, but she beat me to it and asked me to go out with her).

We said “I love you” on our two month anniversary, but we knew much earlier. We didn’t want to see earlier, because we were both so scared to frighten away what we knew felt so right.

On our three month, we became “attached”. We decided we’re going to get engaged and invented a word for that promise to each other.

On a starry night, in front of a campfire, after several ciders, I told her that if I had a ring right now I would propose right there. She said if I had did she would say yes. Thinking outside the box (which must have rubbed off on me from Meghan) I took a key-ring and bent it into a spiral, got down on one knee and proposed, telling her how much I loved her and how amazing she was.

In a sign of true Meghan-ness, and also a sign of the challenges that lay ahead for me, she said “and??” and made me work hard for my proposal!

The adventures we went on with magical, and this was down to Megan’s enthusiasm and wonder for the world. This was an area we truly matched each other step-by-step thought for thought.

A simple drive to Eyemouth for chips was an adventure, an expedition, and we also always ended up doing something special on our journeys.

The Wonder on her face at the beauty of things we saw and the places I took are fills me with joy. In our short time together we made so many memories, that I will cherish forever.

We also made some life-changing decisions. Before I meant Meghan I was a committed meat eater, so cooking for 10 year vegetarian presented some challenges! Along with the fact that look like Milo, the other reason she was with me was my love of cooking, a fact she could not comprehend but I didn’t mean she didn’t enjoy it anyway. This made the transition to being vegan easy, even though we did it in one day! Due to the level and depth of her studies, it’s the only reason she managed to stay vegan, which she was delighted about because it was just another way she took more care of the world around her. Everything she did was aimed at improving the world for people and animals alike, as you can see from the people here today and the messages we have received from people far and wide, the effects she had in her 26 years was incredible.

She brought a sparkle and a smile to everyone she met, and she put her heart and soul into everything she did. At her veterinary placements, she always came up with little things, little improvements, that she thought were so obvious, which improved the care of hundreds of patients, and probably save the lives of a few as well.

I be lying if I said there were no bumps in our road. Loving Meghan was a challenge, but a challenge I would happily to take on every day for the rest of my life. The bumps were quickly smoothed out, love like ours holds no grudges (and I also slowly learnt how to deal with her better!) and often we’d call each other a silly name within an hour and love would be back on again. Although sometimes, I’m sure, it was over so quickly because Meghan was hungry and if I was mad I wasn’t cooking!

I just want to finish by firstly saying thank you to everyone for their kind words and thoughts, for their charity both to us and to some of the causes that Meghan believed in.

I want to give a special message to both the emergency services and to those kind, brave souls who tried their absolute best to help Meghan when she needed it most. You gave your all, and she died surrounded by kindness and love.

Finally I’d like to read a short piece from Dr Seuss;

Life is too short to wake up in the morning with regrets.
So love the people who treat you right,
Forgive the ones who don’t
And believe everything happens for a reason.
If you get a chance – take it,
If it changes your life – let it.
Nobody said it would be easy,
They just promised it would be worth it!

Everyday with Meghan was the best day of my life. We made each other better people. I will cherish every memory I have and I will do my best to honour our plans and values. I cannot believe how lucky I have been to share some of my life with such a beautiful person,so kind, caring, thoughtful and fun, who made every experience special and who kept me on my toes.

I’m looking after your pupetto, Milo, the fluffy ball of licks and love who many of you have met today, and the Guinea pigs are safe in the new home.

I will always love you, my sweet Meghan, you were everything to me.

Before we go, I’ll read an extract from a poem by Kathleen Raines. It’s called “Spell of Sleep” and I hope it can bring some comfort.

Let her be safe and sleep
As leaves folded together
As young birds under wings
As a unopened flower.

Let her be free in sleep
As the flowing tides flowing of the sea
As the travelling wind on the moor
As the journeying stars in space

Let her be healed in sleep
In the quiet waters of the night
In the Mirroring pool of dreams
Where memory returns in peace
Where the troubled spirit grows wise
And the heart is comforted

I hope the ceremony today has helped you to remember the whole of Meghan’s life and how full her time with us was. Although your hearts are heavy now, please try to smile as you remember her special place in your lives, as she would want you to. And above all, please remember her legacy of caring about each other and caring for our world. Perhaps then there might be some sense from all this pain.

We’ve heard today about the life of an extraordinary young woman whose life has been cut short so suddenly. With a generous and determined character, she was inspiration. She knew what she wanted to become and worked so hard to achieve that. Along the way she had a whole lot of fun. She loved the company of her family and kept them entertained from when she was a tiny wee girl. She developed a passionate interest in animals and spent much of her spare time working with them, often voluntarily, both here and abroad. She turned that deep love of animals into her work. She was about to become a veterinary nurse and would I have, no doubt one of the best.

Meghan Ambrozevich-Blair was an example to us all of how compassion and love can win the day. She adored Scot and her family and they, in turn, adored her. Through her example, she has left you with the strength to carry on without her, but there will not be a day in which she isn’t thought about, and you will smile and laugh and cry with those memories.

Everything Meghan gave you and everything she meant to you remains but now you, but now we must say a formal goodbye to that part of Meghan that cannot remain with us.

Every living being has a beginning and an end
For each of us there is a time to be born and a time to die.
Now as we bid Meghan farewell,
We commit her character and her personality to our memories,
We commit her love and dear friendship to our hearts.
Lastly, with sadness but without fear,
We commit her body to its final end,
To rejoin the cycle of nature that sustained her throughout her days.

We’ll now spend a few minutes listening to Meghan’s favourite song. While all of you knew Meghan, you perhaps don’t know each other. The family would like you to join hands with the person standing next to you. In this way, you’re all linked together through Meghan, to think of her both with your own thoughts and as one.

I hope this time for reflection has helped you to say your goodbyes.

As you leave please take a balloon, if you like, to write a message on and then tie it to the fence.

Just before we go I like to read a final poem to you. It’s not about death, it’s about life.
I hope it can remind us of what Meghan saw in nature that’s all around us and which can help us to make life once again contain hope. It’s called “Wild Geese”, by Mary Oliver.

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
For a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body,
love what it loves
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on,
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain are moving across the landscapes,
Over the prairies and deep trees, the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the Wild Geese, high in the clear blue air, are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely, the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting-over and over announcing your place in the family of things.

Our closing words are from AA Milne. I think Meghan might have wanted to say something like this to you today. It’s from a conversation in the Big Wood between Christopher Robin and Pooh, talking about a day when they might be apart. Christopher Robin uses these words to comfort pooh.
If ever there is a tomorrow when we’re not together… there is something you must always remember. You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. But the most important thing is even if we’re apart… I’ll always be with you.

Remember… It’s not the days in your life, it’s the life in your days.

Dad’s poem for Meghan

An utterly horrendous day,
A daughter taken in a dreadful way.
Something a parent sould never do,
Bury your child ahead of you.

Taken so young, a life yet to live,
So much love and caring, still to give.
A grandchild called Frankie, was coming our way,
We cry and miss you, every minute, of every day.

We miss you terribly, terribly bad,
Every morning we wake up sad.
Thinking yesterday might have been just a nightmare,
Why you, why us, life’s just not fair.

If I could swap places I surely would,
If only it was possible, if only I could.
To be able to turn back time and keep you safe,
Away from danger, away from that place.

In heaven, you surely are,
In a galaxy you’re a distant star.
You’re inside me, within my heart,
You and me will never part.

Two years have passed since that dreadful day,
The day God decided to take you away.
You’re in a place where, no person, harm can do,
Surrounded by loved ones, departed before you.

If the afterlife or rebirth are true,
Then it won’t be that long before I see you.
All of my loved ones up there in heaven,
Make a space and look out for Kevin.