AT THE GRAVESIDE
(cancelled due to the thunderstorm)
[Trevor writes] The intention was that after the formal burial we would invite anyone who wanted to say anything, perhaps just a few moving words or to read a poem. Unfortunately the heavens opened and the thunder and heavy rain made that impossible. Indeed the funeral director told me afterwards that he had been burying people for 30 years and it was the first time that the thunder and rain broke the moment the coffin started its journey downwards into the grave. It was if Annie was still stage managing events. However I probably agree with the explanation of her two young daughters who said �it was just Mummy crying�.
If the weather had been kinder the following would have been read:
Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep
Do not stand at my grave and weep; I am not there. I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow. I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain. I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning�s hush, I am the swift uplifting rush
of quiet birds in circled flight. I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry; I am not there. I did not die.
Mary Frye
Annie and I shared a love for the writings of Kahlil Gibran and by co-incidence
Romi quoted the following on Rosalie�s sympathy card after her death in 1995:
From �The Prophet�
�For what is it to die but to stand naked in the wind and to melt into the sun
And what is to cease breathing, but to free the breath from its restless tides, that it
may rise and expand and seek God unencumbered?
Only when you drink form the river of silence shall you indeed sing. And when you
have reached the mountain top, then you shall begin to climb.
And when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance.�
Kahlil Gibran
Trevor�s Note - Annie was laid to rest on 4th July 2006. In her coffin I requested that Charlie�s casket of ashes accompanied her as it was so strange that her faithful dog died the same day. In addition I also placed 3 soft toys representing her deep affection and fascination for teddy bears, dogs and polar bears.