A poem I’ve often found inspirational after losing a loved one in similar circumstances. He is Gone You can shed tears that he is gone Or you can smile because he has lived You can close your eyes and pray that he will come back Or you can open your eyes and see all that he has left Your heart can be empty because you can't see him Or you can be full of the love that you shared You can turn your back on tomorrow and live yesterday Or you can be happy for tomorrow because of yesterday You can remember him and only that he is gone Or you can cherish his memory and let it live on You can cry and close your mind, be empty and turn your back Or you can do what he would want: smile, open your eyes, love and go on. David Harkins 1981

❣️ When you have lost someone you love… (Donna Ashworth Words) Do not make the mistake of living in sadness, or living small to honour their absence. You owe it to them to live even more vividly than before. If they could reach you, they would surely say.. “Take the love you had for me and turn it into gladness, use the love you had for me to drive away the sadness.” Love is an energy, so powerful, so all-consuming that when the person you felt all that love for is not here, you are a vessel filled with a boundless source of power that has nowhere to go. Harness it. Use it to burn even more brightly and live even more loudly than before. Share the love you felt for that person with all the other special people in your life, for it is limitless. There is no end to it and there never, ever should be. If they could reach you they would surely say… “Make my time on earth count loudly, so I’ve not lived in vain. Use the love we shared to make more love and not more pain.” If you are struggling to move on, to find the way to carry on. Without them. This is it. Use the love. Carry them with you in all that you do, using their love as the source. It is what they would want. Tell their stories, mention their name, feel their love – and share it. Do not let the pain of their loss overshadow the love that they created whilst alive. Make them count. Remember, grief is the price you pay for a love divine. The stronger the love, the deeper the grief but love, love will always win in the end. By Donna Ashworth

Thank you for setting up this memorial to Mike. We hope that you find it a positive experience developing the site and that it becomes a place of comfort and inspiration for you to visit whenever you want or need to.