IT WAS GOOD TO KNOW A MAN WHO LOVED GOD LIKE YOU.

I WATCHED YOU IN YOUR STRUGGLES THROUGH ALL THE YEARS.

YOUR WORDS OF FAITH WERE ALWAYS GOOD AND TRUE.

THERE WAS ALWAYS A SMILE, EVEN AMID SOME OF YOUR TEARS.

SO MUCH OF THE TIME YOU FELT YOU, TOO, WERE WALKING ALL ALONE.

BUT I SAW YOU CINCH UP YOUR BELT AND CONTINUE TO STAND STRONG.

DECEPTION AND CONFUSION JUST BLEW OVER AND WAS GONE.

YOU SIMPLY LOOKED UP, TRUSTED GOD, THEN NOTHING WAS WRONG.

YOU WERE THE BIG BROTHER I HAD PRAYED FOR ALL MY LIFE.

MY NEEDS WERE ALWAYS MET WHEN YOU WERE IN THE AREA.

YOU HAD A WAY OF UNDERSTANDING ANY OF MY PRESENT STRIFE

AND YOU WALKED IN AND TORE DOWN ANY HINDERING BARRIER.

SAYING THANK YOU NOW MAY SEEM TO SOME LIKE USELESS EFFORT.

BUT I SAY IT IS NEVER TOO LATE TO LET A FRIEND KNOW YOUR LOVE.

I’M NOT SURE JUST HOW YOU HEAR ME TODAY-BUT I KNOW IT BRINGS YOU COMFORT.

MAYBE I SEE YOU IN THE SPRING FLOWERS, OR MAYBE IN THE MORNING DOVE.

ONLY GOD KNOWS HOW MANY DAYS ARE LEFT IN MY OWN JOURNEY.

BUT I’M GLAD TO HAVE A COMRADE IN MY OWN CLOUD OF WITNESSES.

TODAY I CAN ONLY ENTER INTO OUR FRIENDSHIP THROUGH MEMORY.

BUT ONE DAY WE’LL AGAIN BE FACE-TO-FACE - WHAT BLESSEDNESS.