50+ Lifestyles

Love Lights a Candle

By David W. Deuth, CFSP
President, Weerts Funeral Home

Linda often has a fragrant candle burning in our home. Wispy spring and summery scents enjoyed for the past several months have been recently replaced by the warm and inviting scents of autumn. As the snow falls to stay, the aromas of evergreen and Christmas cookies will usher in the holidays.

The candle’s flame can often be as captivating as the scent released while it burns. Dashing to and fro as it will, the flicker of flame seems to have a life of its own, as silently it goes about releasing its light and fragrance about the house.

This year marks the sixth annual Candlelight Service of Remembrance we host each December at the funeral home. It is held in honor of the special lives we’ve been privileged to help “Remember Well” during the past year. The message and meaning conveyed in this special time of remembering – and the precious flicker of each special candle – is truly profound.

In honor of all the special lives represented each year, I wrote a brief poem that we share at each Remembrance Service. Perhaps if you light a candle in your own home sometime throughout the holiday season, or into the coming year, this verse may prompt you to give special thanks for those whose lives have helped to shape your own . . . even as the candle spreads its light and color and fragrance throughout your home.

MY LOVE LIGHTS A CANDLE

My love lights a candle
For all the world to see
The world won’t always understand it,
Yet it means so much to me.

The candle represents the life, you see,
Of someone that I love,
Its flame burns bright and beautiful
Inspiration from above.

The candle, just as life itself,
For a season brightly shines
With color, flame and fragrance,
Bringing joy to other’s lives.

Yet as this candle burns so bright,
Its very life it claims
And one day, when it shines no more,
It shall rest, though not in vain.

For other flames has this flame lit
In other’s lives to shine…
I am truly blessed and privileged
That one of them was mine.

Love lights a candle . . . pass it on. And Remember Well.