More Free Memorial Verses and Poems for a Funeral or Memorial Service
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Memorial Verses and Poems
Read more memorial verses and funeral verses.
The Watcher
She always leaned to watch for us
Anxious if we were late,
In winter by the window,
In summer by the gate.
And though we mocked her tenderly
Who had such foolish care,
The long way home would seem more safe,
Because she waited there.
Her thoughts were all so full of us,
She never could forget,
And so I think that where she is
She must be watching yet.
Waiting ‘til we come home to her
Anxious if we are late
Watching from Heaven’s window
Leaning from Heaven’s gate.
by Margaret Widdemer
After Glow
I’d like the memory of me
to be a happy one.
I’d like to leave an after glow
of smiles when life is done,
I’d like to leave an echo
whispering softly down the ways,
Of happy times and laughing
times and bright and
summer days.
I’d like the tears of those who
grieve, to dry before the sun,
Of happy memories that I leave
When life is done.
As We Look Back
As we look back over time
We find ourselves wondering …..
Did we remember to thank you enough
For all you have done for us?
For all the times you were by our sides
To help and support us …..
To celebrate our successes
To understand our problems
And accept our defeats?
Or for teaching us by your example,
The value of hard work, good judgement,
Courage and integrity?
We wonder if we ever thanked you
For the sacrifices you made.
To let us have the very best?
And for the simple things
Like laughter, smiles and times we shared?
If we have forgotten to show our
Gratitude enough for all the things you did,
We’re thanking you now.
And we are hoping you knew all along,
How much you meant to us.
……….Who She Was
The memories of the past are vague
The hurts are forever and forgiven
What I have today is what there is forever
And those are the memories of all I have to hold on to.
In my mind I remember a face-one of beauty
One with rarely a frown
And almost always a smile
Never a harsh word-just a kind gentle smile
I hear her voice as she says kind words to all who she knew
The words were always soft
And they were who she was
I will forever hear her say “Hi Honey” soft and gentle was her voice
In the air I breathe
I know she is there
To guide and protect all who she loved
I will forever be grateful
I was born through her to love
I am now who she was
Amanda for her mother, Bonnie Hampton
Let us be grateful to people who make us happy;
they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.
– Marcel Proust
Memory boards are used similarly to memory tables but items are posted on a board.
Celebrate the life of a loved one with this easy-to-use Memory Board Kit. Use these stickers and embellishments to create high quality, professional-looking funeral photo boards that you will be proud to display at the service.
You can only have one mother
Patient kind and true;
No other friend in all the world,
Will be the same to you.
When other friends forsake you,
To mother you will return,
For all her loving kindness,
She asks nothing in return.
As we look upon her picture,
Sweet memories we recall,
Of a face so full of sunshine,
And a smile for one and all.
Sweet Jesus, take this message,
To our dear mother up above;
Tell her how we miss her,
And give her all our love.
Grandmother
We had a wonderful grandmother,
One who never really grew old;
Her smile was made of sunshine,
And her heart was solid gold;
Her eyes were as bright as shining stars,
And in her cheeks fair roses you see.
We had a wonderful grandmother,
And that’ s the way it will always be.
But take heed, because
She’s still keeping an eye on all of us,
So let’s make sure
She will like what she sees.
Legacy of Love
A wife, a mother, a grandma too,
This is the legacy we have from you.
You taught us love and how to fight,
You gave us strength, you gave us might.
A stronger person would be hard to find,
And in your heart, you were always kind.
You fought for us all in one way or another,
Not just as a wife not just as a mother.
For all of us you gave your best,
Now the time has come for you to rest.
So go in peace, you’ve earned your sleep,
Your love in our hearts, we’ll eternally keep
When I Must Leave You
by Helen Steiner Rice
When I must leave you
For a little while-
Please do not grieve
And shed wild tears
And hug your sorrow to you
Through the years,
But start out bravely
With a gallant smile;
And for my sake
And for my name
Live on and do
All things the same,
Feed not your lonliness
On empty days,
But fill each waking hour
In useful ways,
Reach out your hand
In comfort and in cheer
And I in turn will comfort you
And hold you near;
And never, never
Be afraid to die
For I am waiting for you in the sky!
“If ever there is 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.”
Winnie the Pooh (A.A. Milne)
Hand out a token of remembrance at the Celebration of Life. Give guests a memento to take home.
Place charms on the table where guests enter, to give them a memento to take with them after the service. View more pocket charms.
Who you were……………………………. for Barney
(sister wrote for her brother who died from substance abuse)
I see your smile of the past
You would always make us laugh
Life was forever free
And you were all you could be
Then came time
There were burdens to share
Sadly those you could not bear
Deep within your mind you went
You became not who you truly were
Life became dark
The substance took over
Your eyes filled with tears
The pain was forever
The memories of the past are clear
And when we see tomorrow
You will be nowhere near
When we look for your smile
All we see is the sorrow
But what has happened has brought us close
The memories of your life will always live on
With the sparkle in your eyes
And a smile on your face
In our hearts you have filled a special place
So when we think of you
We will forever reflect back
To who you once were
by Amanda Restivo
Gone yet not forgotten,
although we are apart,
your spirit lives within me,
forever in my heart.
I thought of you with love today but that is nothing new
I thought about you yesterday and days before that too,
I think of you in silence I often speak your name
All I have are memories and your picture in a frame
Your memory is my keepsake with which I’ll never part
God has you in His keeping I have you in my heart.
No farewell words were spoken,
no time to say goodbye, you were
gone before we knew it, and only
God knows why.
The memory of a good person
is a blessing.
Proverb 10:7
When someone you love becomes a memory,
the memory becomes a treasure.
If love could have saved you, you would have lived forever.
Grief is the price we pay for love.
May you find comfort in the arms of an angel.
Angel Poem- We are Not Alone
We are touched by Angels
walk where angels tread.
They will guard and guide us
through the days ahead.
In times of sorrow,
as in the days of joy,
they bring us hope and comfort
nothing can destroy.
In the hours of darkness,
when our dreams have flown
they bring us peace and healing.
We are not alone
through times of doubting,
still they understand.
We are touched by angels,
walking hand in hand.
Butterfly Memorial Bookmarks
Perfect for the funeral of someone who loved to read and to garden. Also comes in cross and heart. View our collection of personalized cards.
Real love stories never have endings.
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
When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced
Live your life in a manner that when you die, the world cries and you rejoice
Native American Proverb
Tears water our growth
William Shakespeare
“You see things and you say ‘Why?’ But I dream things that
never were and I say, ‘Why not?'”
Edward Kennedy speaking of Bobby Kennedy in Eulogy quoted from George Bernard Shaw from the play “Back to Methuselah.”
The journey is the reward
Tao Saying
Serenity Prayer
God grant me the Serenity to
Accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things
I can, and the Wisdom to know
the difference.
The best and most beautiful
Things in the world cannot
Be seen or even touched.
They must be felt with the heart.
Helen Keller
We’ve shared our lives these many years. You’ve held
My hand; you’ve held my heart. So many blessings, so
few tears – Yet for a moment, we must part. The
memories you’ve given me are times I’ve shared with
my best friend I’ll hold them, Love. Right here they’ll
be until we share our lives again.
T.C. Ring
Grieve not, nor speak of me with tears, but laugh
And talk of me as if I were beside you. I loved
You so—‘twas heaven here with you.
Isla Paschal Richardson
Irish Prayer
Until we meet again, may God
Hold you in the palm of his hand.
What we have once enjoyed
we can never lose;
All that we love deeply,
becomes a part of us.
Helen Keller
Footprints in the Sand
Lord, You said that once I decided to follow you,
we would walk side by side through life.
But when I needed you most, I say only one set
of footprints in the sand. The Lord replied, “I love you
and I would never leave you. During your times of trial
and suffering, when you see only one set of footprints,
it was then that I carried you.”
Funeral Blues- Made popular in the movie, “Four Weddings and a Funeral”
Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.
Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbling on the sky the message He is Dead.
Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.
He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last forever: I was wrong.
The stars are not wanted now; put out every one,
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun,
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the woods;
For nothing now can ever come to any good.
W.H. Auden
Box of Forget-me-not Seed Pouches
These Forget-Me-Not seed packets are ideal memorial favors to distribute to friends and family. They can then plant the seeds and beautiful blue Forget-Me-Not flowers will grow in their memory. View more plantable memorial gifts.
A Significant Moment Shared
We have shared
A significant moment
With tears awash
Amidst the quiet Smiles
Your handclasp
There surging
We acknowledge
The love and the Life
With profound Expression
As we embrace
And remember
The exhilarating
Poignant living
Walking upon time
Now
With a silent kiss
Marie Alaimo
We shall find peace. We shall hear angels,
we shall see the sky sparkling with diamonds.”
Chekov
“Make yourself familiar with the angels,
and behold them
frequently in spirit; for without being seen,
they are present with you.”
Saint Francis de Sales
“To love for the sake of being loved is human,
but to love for the sake of loving is angelic.”
Alphonse de Lamartine
“The guardian angels of life sometimes fly so high as to be beyond
our sight, but they are always looking down upon us.”
Jean Paul Richter
“When hearts listen, angels sing.”
Unknown
“Let us be silent that we may hear the whisper of God.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Celebration of Life
The celebration of life,
shared in the beginning, and again, in the end.
Yet we forget to celebrate it, in every moment we live.
Time, days, years, go on, but are we alive?
Alive and do not know it, sleeping in the world
and dead to the life we are to live.
To celebrate all life,
the sparrow who sang in the morning,
and died in the night,
why do we not celebrate its life?
To know thyself is to know you are alive –
to give, to love, to seek truth, beauty, and suffer pain.
In life as it is meant to be, pain is forgotten, and
strength is all that’s left to be gained
in the moment by moment celebration of life.
By Deborah Peabody
Alone Again
Some days the road once traveled is a saddened trail,
Some days it’s roses and it feels so good just to be alive.
Some days we feel like no one is out there who cares,
And you are the only one left to pick up the broken pieces
life has left you to deal with.
Love can be such a wondrous thing and it can also
hurt like a thorn; pricking every feeling and emotion
left inside you.
Sometimes love just stinks and other times
it makes one feel warm and tingly inside.
When the love is gone…
The hurt begins for one or both…
Someone always gets hurt in the end.
Two hearts beating as one…
Two hearts now broken apart.
As the story goes,
I found myself falling in love…
And now I find myself falling apart.
Love can be grand…
It can also tear you apart until you
feel like you can’t go on.
You left when I needed you the most…
But I am strong and I will mend and
fall in love all over again.
By Bonnie Carnahan
To My Best Friend
I kept my promise, to love, honor, and share. I kept my promise that to you that I would always there Until death do we part, that is what they say. Oh my love why did you leave me that day? I wasn’t ready for you to say goodbye, as I look into the heavens with tears in my eyes, I wasn’t ready for you to die. My best friend why did you leave and not say goodbye? With so many questions and no answers as to why. I would have gone with you, however God knows best and took you home to give you rest. I was not ready, no not just yet, With only one regret that I didn’t tell you one last time I love you, and forever you will be mine. My best friend this you must know, and never forget. I will see you again when God calls my name and say’s it is time to go home and be with your best friend once again.
By Diana Johnson
I am peaceful.
I have decided to begin with a new slate, new beginning.
Letting go and believing.
I am going to free fall into the arms of love and believe that the same spirit who has inspired me will make all my dreams come true.
Courage is fear who has said her prayers.
I am reminded, the God who gave me all my dreams is the same God that will make them happen.HE WONT FORGET ME OR FORSAKE ME.
And I think it is time to pay attention to what is to be, not necessarily what I thought was going to happen.
I am trading my discouragement and disappointment for faith and hope wrapped in a beautiful package filled with gratitude and peace.
Love will always rear up in my dreams defense,your family and friends are a great example of this love.
Thank God every day for all you have.
Then thank Him for making your dreams come true.
By Melanie Jones
What we have once enjoyed we can never lose;
All that we love deeply, becomes a part of us.
Helen Keller
Then the child opened its eyes, and looked up into the angel’s beautiful face, which beamed with happiness, and at the same moment they were in heaven, where joy and bliss reigned. The child received wings like the other angel, and they flew about together, hand in hand.
By Hans Christian Andersen
Angel Necklace
Give these necklaces to special friends or relatives who have helped out. View more jewelry.
Gates of Prayer – Reform Judaism Prayer Book
As long as we live, they too will live;
For they are now a part of us:
As we remember them!
At the rising sun and at its going down we remember them.
At the blowing of the wind and in the chill of winter we remember them.
At the opening of the buds and in the rebirth of spring we remember them.
At the blueness of the skies and in the warmth of summer we remember them.
At the rustling of the leaves and in the beauty of the autumn we remember them.
At the beginning of the year and when it ends we remember them.
As long as we live, they too will live, for they are now a part of us. As we remember them. When we are weary and in need of strength we remember them.
When we are lost and sick at heart we remember them.
When we have decisions that are difficult to make we remember them.
When we have joy we crave to share we remember them.
When we have achievements that are based on theirs we remember them.
For as long as we live, they too will live,
For they are now a part of us, as we remember them.
“Good men must die, but death cannot kill their names.”
-Proverb
The Angels gathered near your bed so very close to you.
For they knew the pain and suffering that you were going through.
I thought about so many things, as I held tightly to your hand.
Oh, how I wished that you were strong and happy once again.
But your eyes were looking homeward to that place beyond the sky.
Where Jesus held His outstretched arms, it was time to say goodbye.
I struggled with my selfish thoughts, for I wanted you to stay.
So we could walk and talk again, like we did – just yesterday.
But Jesus knew the answer, and I knew He loved you so.
So I gave to you life’s greatest gift, the gift of letting go.
But Not Forgotten
I think no matter where you stray,
That I shall go with you a way.
Though you may wander sweeter lands,
You will not forget my hands,
Nor yet the way I held my head
Nor the tremulous things I said.
You will still see me, small and white
And smiling, in the secret night,
And feel my arms about you when
The day comes fluttering back again.
I think, no matter where you be,
You’ll hold me in your memory
And keep my image there without me,
By telling later loves about me.
Dorothy Parker
He is Gone
You can shed tears that he is gone,
Or you can smile because he lived,
You can close your eyes and pray that he will come back,
Or you can open your eyes and see all that he has left.
Your heart can be empty because you can’t see him
Or you can be full of the love that you shared,
You can turn your back on tomorrow and live yesterday,
Or you can be happy for tomorrow because of yesterday.
You can remember him and only that he is gone
Or you can cherish his memory and let it live on,
You can cry and close your mind be empty and turn your
back,
Or you can do what he would want: smile, open your eyes,
love and go on.
If I should go tomorrow
It would never be goodbye,
For I have left my heart with you,
So don’t you ever cry.
The love that’s deep within me,
Shall reach you from the stars,
You’ll feel it from the heavens,
And it will heal the scars.
If I can stop one heart from breaking,
I shall not live in vain;
If I can ease one life the aching,
Or cool one pain,
Or help one fainting robin
Into his nest again,
I shall not live in vain.
Emily Dickinson
Speak Low
Time is so old and love so brief,
Love is pure gold and time a thief.
We’re late, darling,we’re late,
The curtain descends, everything ends,
too soon, too soon….
Ogden Nash with Kurt Weill from “One Touch of Venus”
Don’t be sad-
I am in a snowflake,
I am in the rays of sun,
I am in the sparkling of stars
Death leaves a heartache
no one can heal;
Love leaves a memory no
one can steal
Irish Tombstone
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we
take, but by the moments that take our breath away.
Those we love don’t go away,
They walk beside us every day,
Unseen, unheard, but always near,
Still loved, still missed and very dear.
The Next Place by Warren Hanson
The next place that I go
will be as peaceful and familiar
as a sleepy summer Sunday
and a sweet, untroubled mind.
Click here to see the complete verse
I Wish You Enough
I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright.
I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun more.
I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive.
I wish you enough pain so that the smallest joys in life appear much bigger.
I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting.
I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.
I wish you enough “Hello’s” to get you through the final “Goodbye.
By Bob Perks
Death is Nothing
Death is nothing at all
I have only slipped away into the next room
I am I and you are you.
Whatever we were to each other
That we still are.
Call me by my old familiar name
Speak to me in the easy way which you always used
Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow.
Laugh as we always laughed at the little jokes
We enjoyed together.
Play, smile, think of me, pray for me,
Let my name be ever the household word that
It always was.
Let it be spoken without effort,
Without the trace of a shadow on it.
Life means all that it ever meant
It is the same as it ever was
There is absolutely unbroken continuity.
Why should I be out of mind because I am
Out of sight? I am but waiting for you
For an interval
Somewhere very near
Just around the corner .
All is well.
Canon Henry Scott Holland (1847-1918)
I turn my head and look towards death now.
Feeling my way through the tunnel with the space of
emptiness and quiet.
The shimmering silence that awaits me.
This is my direction now; inward to the green pastures…
The cares of the world concern me no longer.
I have completed this life. My work is done, my
children grown.
My husband is well on his hero’s journey.
I have loved much and well…
Those I leave behind, I love.
I hope I will remain in their hearts as they will
in mine…
Thank you for taking such good care of me…
And all of you who have been my friends, thank you
for teaching me about love.
Karen Vervaet from “Karen’s Journal, 3 April 1993
Safely Home
I am home in heaven, dear ones.
Oh, so happy and so bright!
There is a perfect joy and beauty
In the everlasting light.
All the pain and grief is over,
Every restless tossing passed;
I am now at peace forever,
Safely home in heaven at last.
There is work still waiting for you,
So you must not idly stand,
Do it now, while life remaineth . . .
You shall rest in God’s own land.
When that work is all completed,
He will gently call you Home;
Oh, the rapture of that meeting
Oh, the joy to see you come!
Author ~ Unknown
Poem of Life
Life is but a stopping place,
A pause in what’s to be,
A resting place along the road,
to sweet eternity.
We all have different journeys,
Different paths along the way,
We all were meant to learn some things,
but never meant to stay…
Our destination is a place,
Far greater than we know.
For some the journey’s quicker,
For some the journey’s slow.
And when the journey finally ends,
We’ll claim a great reward,
And find an everlasting peace,
Together with the Lord.
Anon
Love Lives On
Those we love remain with us
for love itself lives on,
and cherished memories never fade
because a loved one’s gone.
Those we love can never be
more than a thought apart,
far as long as there is memory,
they’ll live on in the heart.
To laugh often and much;
to win the respect of the intelligent people
and the affection of children;
to earn the appreciation of honest critics
and endure the betrayal of false friends;
to appreciate beauty;
to find the best in others;
to leave the world a bit better
whether by a healthy child,
a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition;
to know that one life has breathed easier
because you lived here.
This is to have succeeded.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
There is a special place in our hearts
for those we have loved, for those who have loved us
without question, without a word or promise…
There is a special place where there is no pain or fear,
where love flows freely…
There is a special place to rest in our hearts forever.
If you are planning to scatter at sea, you may want to consider the following poems:
Alone I will not be
my comfort will come from the sea.
The stillness of calm waves will gently drift by
I will be as one with the sea.
When the sun sets on the ocean blue,
remember me as I will always remember you.
As the sun rises…go live life as full as can be
Apart…you and me…but at peace for I am free
Be Comforted
My life is ended here at peace with the sea.
The Lord has called me home and I am free
to go peacefully.
Don’t mourn my passing as I am now in the presence of the Glory of God,
His bright love is abundant and his promises are real.
I will wait here for you dear ones in Jesus’ arms and watch over you with him until you also come home.
Be comforted loved ones.
“I shall go the way of the open sea, To the Lands before you came, And the cool ocean breezes shall blow from me, The memory of your name”
A Parable of Immortality
I am standing upon the seashore.
A ship at my side spreads her white sails to the morning breeze and starts for the blue ocean.
She is an object of beauty and strength.
I stand and watch until at last she hangs like a speck of white cloud
Just where the sea and the sky come to mingle with each other.
Then someone says, “There she goes!”
Gone where?
Gone from my sight, that is all.
She is just as large in mast and hull and spar as she was when she left my side
And just as able to bear her load of living freight to the place of destination.
Her diminished size is in me, not in her.
And just at the moment when someone at my side says, “There she goes”
There are other eyes watching her coming
And their voices ready to take up the glad shouts,
“Here she comes!”
By Henry Van Dyke
When We Remember
You can shed tears that she is gone
or you can smile because she has lived
You can close your eyes and pray that she’ll come back
Or you can open your eyes and see all she’s left
Your heart can be empty because you can’t see her
or you can be happy for tomorrow because of yesterday.
You can remember her and only that she’s gone
or you can cherish her memory and let it live on
You can cry and close your mind, be empty and turn your back
or you can do what she’d want:
smile,
open your eyes,
love
and go on.
Author Unknown
If I Should Go
If I should go tomorrow
It would never be goodbye,
For I have left my heart with you,
So don’t you ever cry.
The love that’s deep within me,
Shall reach you from the stars,
You’ll feel it from the heavens,
And it will heal the scars.
Author Unknown
I expect to pass through life but once. If therefore, there be any kindness I can show, or any good thing I can do to any fellow being, let me do it now, and not defer or neglect it, as I shall not pass this way again.
William Penn
Young Life Cut Short
Do not judge a song by its duration
Nor by the number of its notes
Judge it by the richness of its contents
Sometimes those unfinished are among the most poignant…
Do not judge a song by its duration
Nor by the number of its notes
Judge it by the way it touches and lifts the soul
Sometimes those unfinished are among the most beautiful…
And when something has enriched your life
And when it’s melody lingers on in your heart.
Is it unfinished?
Or is it endless?
Author Unknown
To All Parents
“I’ll lend you for a little time a child of mine,” He said.
“For you to love the while he lives and mourn when he is dead,
“It may be six or seven years, or twenty-two or three.
“But will you, till I call him back, take care of him for me?
“He’ll bring his charms to gladden you, but should his stay be brief,
“You’ll have his lovely memories, as solace for your grief,
“I cannot promise he will stay, since all from earth return,
“But there are lessons taught down there I want this child to learn.
“I’ve looked the wide world over in my search for teachers true,
“And from the throngs that crowd life’s lanes I have selected you.
“Now will you give him all your love, nor think the labor vain,
“Nor hate me when I come to call to take him back again?
I fancied that I heard them say: Dear Lord, Thy will be done!
“For all the joy Thy child shall bring, the risk of grief we’ll run.
We’ll shelter him with tenderness: we’ll love him while we may,
And for happiness we’ve known forever grateful stay.
“But should the angels call for him much sooner than we’d planned.
“We’ll brave the bitter grief that comes and try to understand.”
Edgar Guest
Go back to first page of memorial poems and verses
Ideas for creating a unique Celebration of Life: (click photo for more info)
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- Here’s a do it yourself idea for the flowers that are remaining after the service. Dry the flowers and make beads to use in jewelry, a keychain or bookmarks.
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- Memory Cards are filled out by guests and can capture the memories of your loved one.
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- Scatter Memory Stones for Funeral around a candle and photo on the memory table.
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- Set up a table where children can color a picture dedicated to their loved one that they lost.
Need more ideas? Download our guidebook today. It contains tips, ideas, and a checklist you can use while planning a funeral, memorial, or celebration of life.
Or visit our page Resource Index for Planning a Funeral to see all of our helpful pages.
Browse our large selection of funeral songs with lyrics and player.
