I already posted about Sister Walton's death two weeks ago. But I'm surprised how much I've thought about both Lee and Lois (fondly known as Grandma and Grandpa Walton to many of us in the Los Gatos Ward) since her funeral. Their lives remind me of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's wonderful poem titled: A Psalm of Life. It's one of my all time favorites which I hope my kids will all memorize and recite for me! (Hint!) So, in dedication to both of the Waltons (...lives of great men who remind us...) enjoy the great classic poem! And, ...isn't their photo adorable too!
Tell me not in mournful numbers, Life is but an empty dream!
For the soul is dead that slumbers, And things are not what they seem.
Life is real! Life is earnest! And the grave is not its goal;
Dust thou are, to dust returnest, Was not spoken of the soul.
Not enjoyment, and not sorrow, Is our destined end or way;
But to act, that each tomorrow, Find us farther than today.
Art is long, and Time is fleeting, And our hearts, though stout and brave,
Still, like muffled drums, are beating, Funeral marches to the grave.
In the world's broad field of battle, In the bivouac of Life,
Be not like dumb, driven cattle! Be a hero in the strife!
Trust no Future, howe'er pleasant! Let the dead Past bury its dead!
Act, - act in the living Present! Heart within, and God o'erhead!
Lives of great men all remind us, We can make our lives sublime,
And departing, leave behind us, Footprints on the sands of time;
Footprints, that perhaps another, Sailing o'er life's solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother, Seeing, shall take heart again.
Let us then be up and doing, With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing, Learn to labor and to wait.
