An original funeral reading by Anita Revel

On the day that I die,
nothing will matter.
Things I thought were important,
will no longer concern me.

The things I worried about,
will become trivial indeed.
The obsession with my weight, my clothes, my car, my phone…
Nada.

The appointments in my diary
will not be kept.
The inbox will keep filling up,
and remain unread.

My regrets, of which I’ve a few,
will be wiped out forever.
My material possessions,
will be given away.

The jealousy of other people’s better houses,
better relationships, better lives… Bah!
The plans, the dreams, the bucket-list,
are as valuable as the paper I listed them on.

Those that criticised me,
will be punching thin air.
But those that loved me; that knew me,
will grieve for me.

It is for these people,
that I write this now.
Because when I die,
memories will matter.

You might feel cheated,
or deny that I’m gone,
or bargain with Spirit to
have one more day.

I know this because when I have loved,
and lost,
it feels like the only way
to have any sort of control.

But it is worth remembering,
that while we were alive,
together,
that we laughed.

We danced, we joked,
we played, we adventured,
we shared, we connected,
we broke bread and we “were”.

So before the day that I die,
let’s do this some more.
And leave each other with
a sense, of having lived.

~ Original funeral reading by Anita Revel, Celebrant Margaret River