Memories

A year ago tonight, in the small hours of the morning of 16 Feb, my father-in-law passed away peacefully in his sleep holding his wife's hand.

These next 24 hours are going to be very tough/strange/odd and full of memories for Richard, his mum and his sister.
Because I had lost my own father 2 years earlier in the winter of Jan '09 and had been called in the small hours by my own mother with the sad news in a similar way, not only did I feel I could empathise completely but it also brought all those memories flooding back and I sat down and wrote this:

I Find You There

I do not find you at your grave,
Although I stand and read your name.
You've gone but still I search for you
Where are you now your life is through?

My hands on the arms of your favourite chair,
Yes, I think you might be there
My heart it aches with love for you
You own a part - you're in there too

A happy photo smiles at me
This is where I want you to be.
A line in a song and I see your face
And remember a walk in your favourite place.

The love you left will never die
Your life lives on in your family's eyes.
I'll always miss your company
But you live on in them and me.

There is no end to the love that is you
In others your life lives on, and through
Your life you left enough
That we might see and hold and touch.

I rest my head now we're apart
And remember that which was dear to your heart
Your values, dreams and chosen words
Can still be felt and still be heard.

I take a moment in my mind
To think about the happier times,
The thoughts and loves that we both shared
Forever I will find you there.

I don't consider myself a poet. I just wrote as if my fingers were the mouthpiece for the feelings that came flooding out.