Barbara - 7

Tha mi brònach
tha mi toilichte
Nach eil e neònach
Nach eil e èibhinn

Four lines in Gaelic
Barbara's first language
The one that her own mum
spoke to her as a baby

I am sad
I am happy
Isn't it strange
Isn't it funny

I am sad
Because she has gone
I am happy
Because she has gone

I am missing her
which is why I'm sad
I am pleased her suffering is over
which is why I'm happy

That may sound strange
isn't it strange
But it is just as funny
As funny as she could be

I wouldn't want her to come back
I have to go on
And leave her as a constant
in my life, from the past

I am just chasing memories
of what I have lost
It will never return
whatever I do

I love you to bits
I love you forever
Wherever I go
You'll always be with me

Tha gaol agam ort gu piosan
Tha gaol agam ort gu bràth
Ge bith càite an tèid mi
Bidh thu an-còmhnaidh còmhla rium

Barbara - 6

That snowy day in January
Two years ago just now
As light faded over the Minch
and darkness lay over Stornoway

I entered your abode
once more
as I had done for
many a year

The years were
becoming unkind to you
although I did not properly
notice

Soon enveloped once more
in your kindness
and all that endeared you
to me

As 2019 unfurled
you fought on relentlessly
against the ravages
of old age

But by autumn time
time was called
for an undetermined length
as yet

I watched you fade
having to give up
what was once
dear to you

Fading from the
downstairs parts
of your home
of many years

Until you left
as the sun rose
and within its light
you had gone

A new year
has commenced
without you
to light it up

On I shall go
without your light
to guide me
but on I shall go

In memoriam

At the end of 2020...
We give thanks for your life
We give thanks for who you were
We give thanks for the light you shone into our own lives
We give thanks for the legacy you left us
We give thanks for being there, even though you are gone
Time matters not where you are now
But thanks we give for the time we had with you