Amanda's Journey

Welcome to our Child Web Page. It has been provided to keep people updated about our Amanda and her battle with Leukemia

Journal

Saturday, September 16, 2006 12:13 AM CDT

Hello. Judy here. Not quite ready to spill out my thoughts -- too many -- except to say thank you. I'd like to keep this web page active for as long as possible & without an entry -- I fear this may just 'go away' at some point. So today I thought I'd just get an 'entry' out ther -- let you know Em & I are ok and that while we ache over loosing her, we need to get going & just keep trying...

In the meantime, here's a beautiful piece of writing that was given to Em the day Amanda died... I hope you find you find it gives you a little peace...

I'll be back....

________________________________________________
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.

And yet... it won't be anything like any place I've ever been...
or seen... or even dreamed of
in the place I leave behind.

I won't know where I'm going, and I won't know where I've been
as I tumble throught the always
and look back toward the when.

I'll glide beyond the rainbows.
I'll drift above the sky.
I'll fly into the wonder, without ever wondering why.

I won't remember getting there.
Somehow I'll just arrive.
But I'll know that I belong there
and will feel much more alive than I have ever felt before.
I will be absolutely free of the things that I held onto
that were holding onto me.

The next place that I go will be so quiet and so still
that the whispering song of sweet belonging will rise up to fill
the listening sky with joyful silence, and with unheard harmonies
of music made by no one playing,
like a hush upon a breeze.

There will be no room for darkness in that place of living light,
Where an ever-dawning morning pushes back the dying night.
The very air will fill with brilliance, as the brightly shining sun
And the moon and a half a million stars are married into one.

The next place that I go
won't really be a place at all.
There won't be any seasons --
winter, summer, spring or fall --

Nor a Monday
Nor a Friday
Nor December
Nor July.
And the seconds will be standing still
while the hours hurry by.

I will not be a boy
or girl
a woman
or a man.
I'll simply be just, simply, me.
No worse or better than.
My skin will not be dark or light.
I won't be fat or tall.
the body I once lived in
won't be part of me at all.

I will finally be perfect.
I will be without a flaw.
I will never make one more mistake, or break the smallest law.

And the me that was impatient,
or was angry
or unkind,
will simply be a memory.
The me I left behind.

I will travel empty-handed.
There is not a single thing
I have collected in my life
that I would ever want to bring
except...
the love of those who loved me,
and the warmth of those who cared.
The happiness and memories
and the majic that we shared.

Though I will know the joy of solitude...
I'll never be alone.
I'll be embraced
by all the family and friends
I've ever known.
Although I might not see their faces,
all our hearts will beat as one,
and the circle of our spirits
will shine brighter than the sun.

I will cherish all the friendship I was fortunate to find,
all the love and all the laughter in the plaace I leave behind.

All these good things will go with me.
They will make my spirit glow.
And that light will shine forever
in the next place that i go.




I love you Mand
Mommy

Hospital Information:

Patient Room: 307

Pete Gross House c/o Amanda Osterby
525 Minor Ave.. North, apt # 307
Seattle, WA 98109
(206)262-9022

Links:

E-mail Author: judithosterby@comcast.net

---

 

Your gift will help millions of people stay connected with friends and loved ones during challenging times.

---

 

This page has been viewed 53227 times.

Note: The foregoing information was authored by the patient, parent or guardian, or other parties who are solely responsible for the content. Such announcements or their content are not necessarily endorsed by CaringBridge, Inc. or any sponsoring agent.  This information does not confirm that anyone is or was actually a patient at any facility.