We are born into this world with nothing.
When we leave, we take nothing.
What we would like is a long and happy life.
For some, life may be short, for others longer,
  but, if it is fulfilled, we should be content.

Death is a new life.
We do not look forward to it, but once there,
  the old is forgotten, the new is the beginning.

We view the new as a singleness where our entity moves on.
Our present is a warm feeling but it is the past.
The future will be new, a new life, a new challenge.

Death is hardest for those we leave behind.
It is, it was, it will never be easy to loose a loved one.
We would hope that this would never be, but,
   this is a responsibility we inherit when we are born,
   and, we cannot change it.
We can but love the person when they are with us
  and remember them when they are not.

We are here to give, not to take.
What we leave behind is our legacy.
What we leave behind is our reflection;
  what we were
  what people remember
  what is recorded.

Mom and Dad, thank you for being our parents.
We are because of you.
What we are is because of you.

Now you are with your parents
With your brothers and sisters
With your friends, those that preceded you.
In time we will follow.

Thanks for being you
For being mom and dad
For being grandma and grandpa
For being a friend.

Donald Joseph Schulteis (1996)