If I depart in early sleep
And cease to be with you,
My thoughts I'd leave for you to read,
To hold your hands in times of need,
To soothe your grieving too.
I've written words you have not read
That speak of you, my love.
In them, I do express for you
A love as deep as oceans blue
And wide as space above.
We've lived as one for many years
Despite some days of pain.
To be unkind was not our thought;
We worked to show the love we sought
And strove for it to reign.
For forty-one abiding years,
I've prized my time with you.
And I do hope we both will see
The dawn ahead when we'll be free
From death and sadness too.
But if I were to fall asleep
Before what will be new,
Remember this: the hope we hold,
The one that God will soon unfold,
Will bring us back anew.
So cherish all the words I'll leave
If I have gone to sleep,
For they will be my hands on you,
Caresses from the man you knew,
Forever yours to keep.