POEM
Remember Him in Happiness
Remember him in happiness,
For he would have had it that way.
He is as a fallen Autumn leaf
And the sunset of a summer day.
He is as the final shower of a warm spring-time rain.
And a peaceful snow-white winter night
Whose design we’ll not see again.
Yet he lives in every peal of laughter
Every happy smile
His passing was but the final chapter
Of a beloved book we knew and read awhile
Now we are better for having known him.
For he taught us to live each of life’s little parts.
And even now he is not really gone
For Rick lives on within our hearts.
Jane Elledge
Rick Dees Classmate, Class of 1965
This Boy
He was a boy
Same age as me.
He was aboy
It was plain to see
He was a boy
Like they all should be.
He loved his God
Like you and I do;
His love was more perfect —
God wanted him, too.
He went to the game that fateful night.
He laughed and joked — what need for fright?
If only he’d known as he played in the light.
The game began, as they all must do.
A rough, tough sport — that is true,
But many people love it — I’ll bet you do, too.
But just this once;
If only we knew …
He tried to stop the boy running by,
He never flinched — he didn’t cry —
He didn’t know next morning he’d die.
His life is done.
His loves are through.
His family cries,
His friends are blue.
They loved this boy,
He was sweet and kind —
Pure in spirit, clean in mind.
One night he played —
He ran solid and quick;
Next morning he died —
God’s great son, Rick.
Sheryl Spinner
September 28, 1964