"IN LOVING MEMORY OF LOUISE ANTOINETTE TORRES"

LOUISE ANTOINETTE TORRES
~*~ June 18, 1980 ~ November 25, 1993 ~*~
Daughter of Rosemary Torres

Memories

They say memories are golden,
Well maybe that is true;
But we never wanted memories,
We only wanted you.

A million times we've needed you,
A million times we've cried.
If love alone could have saved you,
You never would have died.

In life we loved you dearly,
In death we love you still.
In our hearts you hold a special place
No one else could ever fill.

If tears could build a staircase,
And heartache build a lane,
We'd walk the path to Heaven
And bring you back again.

Our family chain is broken
And nothing seems the same,
But as God calls us one by one,
The chain will link again.

--by Jennifer Graham
Vista, California

Whenever Precious Children Die

Whenever precious children die,
We cannot help but ask, "Lord, why?"
"Why would You take this little one
With so much of life still left undone?"
And yet we know You have a plan,
Though we may never understand,
And from the time of each child's birth,
You know when each will leave this earth.
And though our years be long or few,
We ultimately dwell with You;
And only You know when we've met
All the goals that You have set
For each of us to meet down here;
So never need there be a fear
That there has been some dread mistake,
For errors, Lord, You never make.
And, so, although we know not why,
We know it was her time to die,
And that with Jesus hand in hand,
She walked into Your Promised Land.
Of course, we cannot help but grieve--
We were not willing that she leave,
And we will mourn her loss each day
And miss her sweet and loving ways.
We'll think on days both bright and drear,
"If only Louise were with us here...."
We know our hearts will always ache,
But us, O Lord, You'll ne'er forsake;
All our sorrow You will share
And our pain You'll help us bear.
And still, O Lord, we trust Your plan--
We know one day we'll understand,
When we can meet You face to face
And You will all our tears erase.
So may it comfort us somehow
To know she lives in heaven now,
And that with Jesus, hand in hand,
She walked into Your Promised Land.

Saralyn McAfee Smith