Dear Toon, Riki, Bas and family.
The family and I thank you so much for the beautiful flowers from you for Harry's grave. It was such a lovely sunny day and his grave over looks the mountains which he so loved. Below is the script, songs and poetry we all chose for my fathers last journey.
Hendricus Johannes Hurkmans
15 September 1914......15 May 2010
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Introduction Music...........
Family and friends we have come together today to pay our final respects to Hendricus Johannes Hurkmans, known to all as Harry, to celebrate his life and to bid him a loving farewell.
The funeral of someone close to us can be a moving and sometimes a life-changing experience. It makes us aware of our own short time here and often a cold reminder of how we are living our own life.
It can be a wake-up call to make something of our days - to enrich and embellish every moment so that we make every minute count......to live in the "now" rather than the past......Or in the future as so many of us do.
How often do we dwell on the past and what might have been or dream about the future and what could be, all the time failing to see the potential and the beauty of the present moment? We say that it's time to stop and smell the roses but how often often do we actually do just that? Our lives are so busy these days, we often find it hard to find time for just "being". But today we are putting aside for a brief time, our worries and concerns and joining with one another here who share in the common bond of love and respect for Harry
Song...."TEARS IN HEAVEN"....Eric Clapton
Poetry...."ONE AT REST"
Think of me as one at rest,
for me you should not weep
I have no pain, no troubled thoughts
For I am just asleep.
The living, thinking me that was is now forever still
And life goes on without me as time forever will.
If your heart is heavy now because I've gone away
Dwell not long upon it friend,
For none of us can stay.
Those of you who liked me
I thank you one and all -
And those of you who loved me I thank you most of all.
The answer to life's secret in life I never knew,
I go with hope that now I will
And even so will you.
And in my fleeting lifespan as time went rushing by
I found some time to hesitate, to laugh, to love to cry.
Does it matter now if time began, if time will ever cease?
I was here, I used it all and
Now I am at peace.
Song...."HERE YOU ME"----
Harry will always be part of your lives as he will live on in your memories of him.
Each one of you have your own unique memories - the talks you had together, the time you spent together and the laughter you shared together. The gift of a memory is that no-one can take it away from you, after it or distort it...We owe it to Harry to treasure these memories so that they will live on in our hearts, I'd like to share a quote with you, I don't know who wrote it but it touched my heart: - "To mourn too long for those we love is self indulgent..........but to honour their memory with a promise to live a little better for having known them, gives a purpose to their life and some reason for their death".
It seems to me that when we die we leave a little of ourselves behind so that in all we do and in all we say we echo on through time so, in a way, we never die, we live on in the lives of those lives we touch and all of us here, at this moment, have this in common.
Song......"DEAR GOD"---
Poetry......"HOW DID YOU SPEND YOUR DASH"
One day in a cemetery I stood looked
at the gravestone of a friend.
And I noticed the dates
that represented his beginning and end.
I saw that first came his date of birth
and noted the date of his death with tears
but I knew what mattered most of all
was the dash between those years.
For the dash represents all the time
That he spent alive on earth...
And now only us who loved him
Know what that little line is worth.
For it matters not how much we own,
The cars...the house...the cash.
What matters is how we live and love
And how we spend the dash.
So think about tis long and hard
Are there things you'd like to change?
For you never know how much time is left
That can still be rearranged.
If we could just slow down enough
To consider what's true and real
And always try to understand
The way other people feel.
And be less quick to anger
And show appreciation more
And love the people in our lives
Like we've never loved before.
If we treat others with respect
And more often wear a smile....
Remembering that this special dash
Might only last a while.
So when your eulogy is being read
With your deeds and actions to rehash
Would you be proud of the things they say
About how you spent your dash?
Song......"SHADOW OF THE DAY"....
Prayer...."LORD"S PRAYER"....for every one
IRISH BLESSING.....
May the road rise to meet you
may the wind be always at your back
May the sun shine warm upon your face
The rains fall softly upon your fields
And until we meet again,
May God hold us in the palm of His Hand.
Closing music....................
