Happy Birthday, Angel!

Happy Birthday, Merry Katherine!

Merry Katherine Prince

March 29, 1987 - August 2, 2006

I face each day, doing pretty well now,

Facing this life, this life without you,

Surviving daily, I don't know how,

When my heart, I admit, is broken in two.

Why then, when I write, are the tears falling down

When I picture your face, or your laughter rings out,

When I feel, in my tears, I really might drown,

And I'm returned to square one of this terrible drought,

This drought that was brought by that terrible day,

That day, despite prayer, you were taken away,

This drought that claws at my heart every day

Yet somehow I go on, somehow find a way…

It seems I face each day, doing pretty well now;

I'm doing more work, a seeming progression,

But only you and God really see how

I'm doing inside, my tears, my true confession.

And now, once again, your birthday arrives,

Yet you are not here, for us to celebrate…

(How is it, amidst drought, the rest of the world thrives

When we are left behind, to watch our hearts break?)

Yet, you see, I am learning to cope,

To live amidst death in this terrible drought:

Your smile, as you lean into God, brings me Hope

And your continued Love forges a way through death's drought,

As our life on this earth lives on in the prayer

Fully realized in Christ once we are There!

And then we will joy in God's grand celebration

Where pain pales in the face of our Father's elation.

Happy 26th Birthday, Merry Katherine!

We love you and long to see you again,

Mommy, Daddy, Rollin, Stephanie, Merry Elizabeth, and Nathan