chaz-just having gone thru the rituals surrounding
the death of both of my parents less than a year ago,
these images bring up freshly turned soil in the
memory banks for me. It reminds me of a song that helped
me thru my grieving and necessary tasks:'I will post it on the funeral songs thread, too.

DOWN TO A RIVER by Connie Kaldor (on the c.d. Small Cafe')

There are dinners, there is music,
There is laughter, there were tears,
There are memories that go back
Over the years,
There are the marks made in a life
Like only good friends do,
Now I must choose to make a mark,
For the things I Loved in you,

    CHORUS
    I'll go down to a river, and plant a tree,
    Something strong, wild and living,
    Those are my memories,
    And I'll go up to a mountain, and sing to the stars,
    Can you hear me? Wherever you are.

And there's phone calls and there's crying
And there's clutching to the chest,
Ant there's singing songs and throwing dirt,
And laying down to rest,
And there's carving words on stone,
And making church bells ring,
But the river when it freezes over,
Still thaws and runs each spring.

    CHORUS

Do you hear the ones who loved you,
And were glad they knew you well,
Do the hearts you left that miss you,
Ring like a bell?