At sixty, it’s hard not to notice how many people your own age are gone. After open-heart surgery in 2022 and two near-death experiences in the first twenty-four hours afterward, I couldn’t help thinking about my own life and the people I love.
This song is what I’d want the person I love to hear if I check out first. Remember what we shared, but keep living. Find love again. To me, there’s no greater expression of love than wanting them to keep experiencing it, even when I’m no longer here to give it.
Lyrics
When they bury me, do not grieve for me
Remember the years we lived together
The nights we slept beside each other
And the mornings we woke as one
Your hand upon my chest in the dark
Your breath across my neck at sunrise
Let those be the things you carry
Not the way this world was cruel
We lived together
Slept together
Loved each other as only lovers do
And if this world should take me from you
It cannot take my love from you
So do not grieve for me when they bury me
Do not let your life end with mine
Go find another man to love you
And live again in time
They may call our love a sin
They may curse the life we made
But love is a reflection of God's grace
No hatred can take away
Do not bury your heart with me
Do not let love die that day
Live in love and remember me
Remember me that way
Go find another man to love you
One kind enough to stay
Live in love and remember me
Remember me that way