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Footprints In the Sky … and a Sweet Butterfly
Life is so short, so cherish your days,
Each loved one, each friend, each acquaintance you know …
For in one single second, of any given minute,
A life can be altered in so many ways.
It could be a loved one, or an acquaintance you know …
It could even be you -- that's the one to go.
Now the ones who are living, that got left behind,
There's a void and a pain that no words can explain,
The loss and the emptiness so huge in our mind,
The feelings are different from any other kind.
Now the searching begins … for what? I don't know.
Maybe some kind of sign that you didn't really go.
The questions un-answered, the "What Ifs?" all said,
Now the memories of past, are all in my head.
You are missed so much, your voice and your touch,
Every day the tears come, but it's over -- it's done.
I look to the sky, talking to you,
Making pictures with clouds … now that's all I can do.
I make pictures of you, I talk and I cry,
I see all the footprints … in the clouds in the sky.
Transformation is over -- transition complete,
But the memories of you are so clear and so sweet.
You are now a small fairy -- a butterfly to me,
You are healthy and happy and can fly and be free.
With wings spread out wide, so colorful and new,
You are joining the others, in a place new to you.
Each day that goes by, I hope that I feel
What other folks say … that "Time Will Heal."
They say it gets better as time passes by,
But to me, you are now a sweet butterfly.
I still make those pictures I see in the cloud
And silently talk to you, crying out loud.
I'll always see footprints all over the sky …
And stop when I see a sweet butterfly.
--Shawna Lea Duval
(BHS Class of 1973)
Terri Williams-Bates, age 43, became a butterfly when her heart failed for the final time on April 9, 2001.
Shawna also dedicates this poem to the memory of her brother BRIAN DOUGLAS LEA (Class of 1976), who lost his brave battle with stomach cancer in 1990 at age 42.
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