My name is Sammie and we’ve recently lost our brother, Paul. Paul tragically died on Wednesday 7th October 2009 at the age of 26 years old.
It was a terrible loss for our family and friends. He was a well loved lad with a great future ahead of him.
After reading many entries on your site, we too are going through the same process of bereavement. However, although many feelings are similar, there are many which simply cannot be compared…
We’ve been very fortunate to be surrounded by a strong network of support. Words cannot express the loss I and the rest of my family and our friends feel.
A student in my class heard about Paul the next day and presented me with a poem (below) for his 27th birthday which we celebrated on Saturday 30th January 2010.
Paul
A wounding emptiness now fills too many lives,
Yet the ringing echoes of that joyful laughter lingers in the air,
The loss was too surprising,
How could we lose someone so uniquely rare?
The heartache was immensely sharp,
The slash of a dagger,
It was hard to keep upright,
Trying hard not to stagger,
A hard lump choking the throat,
A clenching on the stomach holding on tight,
Suddenly tears are flooding the room
Was it right to take him away? Was it right?
It was a depressing and desolate autumn then,
Yet it felt like a thousand raw winters had gone by,
It was raining with a sorrow – constant sorrow,
But I knew he was there when I looked up in the sky.
Looking at the pictures now,
A soothing harmony embraces the heart,
He left fullfilling all his ambitions,
Reaching every target he’d set from the start.
When we first lost him,
I lived in the harrowing loneliness of the dark,
But now all I see is the luminous beauty of the light,
Because now I know that in all our hearts, he definitely left his mark.
(Written by A. Tarannum – 30.01.2010)
Paul will forever be in our hearts 🙂
Sammie Roy
