Dear Lucy, Where Death Has Left a (Deep and Temporary) Hole

This week holds the two-year anniversary of

Life without Lucy;

two years of lifting Lucy's family lovingly to God in prayer

and trusting Him,

*that they should seek the Lord, in the hope 

that they might grope for Him and find Him, 

though He is not far from each one of us; 

for in Him we live and move and have our being,...

(see reference below)

The heart-shaped rock, noticed and picked by her granddaughter, 

then painted by my daughter Victoria.

The sign from my niece-in-law Emma!

Precious mementos in memory of Lucy!

Because we never know what a week holds I am sharing

a tribute/poem that poured from my

slowly healing heart this mourning/morning...

partly due to how September's ambience sparks so many memories!

LUCY SO loved September's bittersweet scents and hues!

which, I'm sure she was drinking in on her (unbeknownst to her)

last bike ride to Heaven; to meet her Saviour

and the Creator of all she dearly loved! 

September hues and scents and sounds rouse a profound sense in the soul

Of life-scapes expanding around 'Ground-sorrow', where death left a hole

Nothing will fill, but Time persists with love, still very much alive

Its duty and labour insists on frameworks love and life contrive

The heart, where death has left a hole nothing will fill, still aches with grief 

The part that we cannot control we leave to God whose Way/will is Chief

Though mortal Want misunderstands Purposes that seem so unkind 

He reaches out His nail-scarred hands; scars that Calvary left/left Calvary behind 

...and bids us cast our care/grief on Him; He helps us bear/wear the hole death leaves 

He too has borne love's guerdon, grim, and shed real tears, wiped on God's sleeves

For He is not some far-off God, unable to commiserate

With our hurt; He too has trod the Mourner's Vale through Sorrow's Gate 

And suffered the climax of loss when He gave his life in our stead

Enduring death upon a cross to conquer death and crush death's head 

To break the curse that doomed us when first Eve, then Adam disobeyed

He scorned death's claim and rose again; the price for our redemption paid 

So, though the stroke of death may leave a deep and everlasting temporary hole

For all who repent and believe God grants to grief a glorious goal

And though nothing will fill the place where death has left its aching void

God, through the goodness of His grace, comforts grief with hope, overjoyed 

Janet Martin

1 Thess.4:13-14

Brothers, we do not want you to be uninformed

 about those who sleep in death,

 so that you will not grieve like the rest, who are without hope. 

For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, 

we also believe that God will bring with Jesus

 those who have fallen asleep in Him.

Acts 17:26-31

He has made from one blood every nation of men

 to dwell on all the face of the earth,

and has determined their preappointed times 

and the boundaries of their dwellings,

so *that they should seek the Lord, in the hope 

that they might grope for Him and find Him, 

though He is not far from each one of us; 

for in Him we live and move and have our being,

as also some of your own poets have said,

 ‘For we are also His offspring.’ 

Therefore, since we are the offspring of God,

 we ought not to think that the Divine Nature

 is like gold or silver or stone, 

something shaped by art and man’s devising. 

Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, 

but now commands all men everywhere to repent, 

because He has appointed a day

 on which He will judge the world in righteousness 

by the Man whom He has ordained. 

He has given assurance of this to all 

by raising Him from the dead.”

(read the whole glorious chapter HERE)

I have also listened to this song countless times!

I Set My Hope on Jesus

Dear Lucy, I Am Sixty Now or Dear Lucy, Beyond Time's Temporary Rift

Revelation 4:11
“Worthy are You, our Lord and God, 

to receive glory and honor and power,

 for You created all things; 

by Your will they exist and were created.”

Thank You Lord, for family and friends

and for your example of how

we ought to love one another! 

In the past month+ to say

I have been generously, thoughtfully, preciously 

showered with love from family, friends and neighbours

is an understatement!

You all have made turning 60 (on June 7th) feel like such an honour! (which it is)

Cake by Baking Me Happy!

Last night my family (parents, siblings and spouses) celebrated this milestone!

 It takes time in a large, busy family to find a day where everyone is free! 

Family celebrations always re-impact me with fresh awareness 

of how deeply I love my family! (and how deeply I/we miss Lucy) 

Oh Lucy dear, I am sixty

Remember how we used to dream

Of trying to age gracefully

Treating each stage with kind esteem?!

Life's milestones seem to emphasize

How swift a decade disappears 

Where it seems that Time's Chariot flies

Faster and faster through the years 

...and makes us more humbly aware

Of love's immeasurable score

And how we have no time to spare

In loving one another more

...and recognizing every day

Is a grace-granted gift from He

Who is faithful, come what-yet-may

On our way to Eternity 

Where you got there ahead of us

But we are close behind. Amen

To gather and behold Jesus

Forever together again 

A soulful love-song steals my breath

Where strains of Heaven and earth meld

As we traverse the vale of death

Its final bend and breadth withheld 

Oh grave, where is thy victory

Oh death, where is Thy sting, Thy knife

Praise God, because of Calvary 

Death is a steppingstone to life

...for all who repent and believe

In He who paid the debt we owed

Where else we would endlessly grieve

And hope would be a hollow goad

Dear Lucy, I am sixty now

But you have passed from numbered days

To where no tears or pain will bow

The Countenance of endless praise 

Till then, Lord, help me hope and trust

Because the best is yet to come

As ash to ash and dust to dust

Transports the Soul to Home, Sweet Home 

Until Time's countdown is complete

Help me treat each day as a gift

To be revered until we meet

Beyond Time's Temporary rift 

Janet Martin

Below, a little look at birthday blessings (and maybe inspiration)

 if you're looking to bless someone on their birthday!

A friends-lunch to celebrate Now

and remember 'then'...

Soo many thoughtful gifts and cards, hugs, texts etc.

(below 60 flowers, 60 treats and 60 Scripture verses!!)

Ignite coffee roasted by one of my nephews!

Charcuterie board below, made by another nephew's son!

Want one? Check out the stand at

6981 Wellington Rd 9, R.R.#2 Moorefield 

Dear Lucy, Here You Will Always Be...

Lucy, I was in the middle of some late spring cleaning doing the upstairs windows...

missing you missing my 60th birthday fuss and love... 

Oh, I can almost hear you exclaiming how 60 sounds surreal and wowing, and half-listening

as I explain 'things', how sometimes out of nowhere

 a poem just seizes my senses and needs out!

 and then we talk... in breathless mostly half-sentences between questions, 

catching up on each other's lives...

and laughing and weeping and praying...

 depending on the joy or grief of love...

Lucy, the grief of our parting has sweetened/refined my joys. 

I sense you in a harvest of deepened friendships... 

you opened my eyes to a world of outstretched arms...

two of them, mine...

because its the hard times that remind us how much we need each other. 

You are teaching me the bitter-sweetness of this verse, dear Lucy...

John 12:24 

Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, 

it remains only a single seed.

 But if it dies, it produces many seeds.

What?! oh! you're asking 'why so many ellipses?!!'

That's where I was pausing to gather my thoughts...

and words! 😅😘

Dear Lucy,

In one sense, you're not here

and in that sense its true

But somehow I still feel you near

in every thought of you

in every want to hear

more than echoes to trace

in every peony my dear 

I press against my face

In every memory

That pray, Time will not steal

In every aching void of 'we'

That Time can never heal

In every hope renewed

Because God loves us so

In every prayer of gratitude

In spite of tears that flow

In spite of sight bereft

For God bid we should part

There is a sense of you still left

To hold within my heart

To comfort sorrow's tear

To remind me again

That in one sense you are not here

But in one you remain

...and here you'll always be

 In ever younger years

You slipped beyond the reach of me

Save in my smiles and tears 

Janet💔🙏💝

  

This Year, Lucy, on your Birthday...

Dear Lucy,

How can this be your 2nd birthday we celebrate in memory of you?!!

This year, Lucy on your birthday we will miss your sweet delight

Of grateful appreciation for a card that is just right

We will miss your breathless questions leaving no time to reply

As you pause to exclaim over something that has caught your eye

'Love your skirt, your purse, your jacket; where did you buy it?!! how much?!!

Love your hair, the way you wear it, love your scarf, dress, shoes and such

Come sit down! would you like coffee or tea?? and a fresh-baked 'yum'?

WOW! Time flies I can't believe how faster birthdays seem to come!!'

This year, Lucy, on your birthday both tears and laughter will spill

In the tender recollection of scenes ceased against our will 

Longing for your lovely/lively presence to grace the room like a breeze

As we trace the treasured essence of echoes and memories

This year, Lucy, on your birthday we will wonder *how/where you are

How yesteryears and forever feel so very near and far

Tugging us in two directions; what will be and what has been

Close enough to hug and kiss you but for farewell's void between 

This year, Lucy, on your birthday only memories must do

As we yearningly remember and relive moments with you 

And with reverent appraisal ponder opportunity

Before we too join the ranks of 'Happy Birthday-used-to-be'

This year, Lucy, on your birthday we will thank the Lord above

For the beauty of the blessing of your lifetime and your love 

For God knows how much we miss you and He comforts longing's pain

With the hope and joy of knowing someday we will meet again

This year Lucy, on your birthday, we will kind and humbly pray

For the treasure in the measure of the gift we call today

And the pleasure of thought-pictures that no hand of time can steal

While a pang soft-rends heart-sutures Time can never fully heal...

Janet Martin

Dear Lucy,

Love fills holes loss leaves behind

love always,

your sis

*How Beautiful Heaven Must Be...

Johnny Cash - In The Sweet By And By

The Time We Had/Have (Dear Lucy)

Whenever we reach the 17th of a month my heart does a little jolt!

This day Jan. 17, 2026, marks 16 mos, since we lost dear Lucy💔.

The longevity of this reality is beginning to sink in!

This winter I am meandering through John Greenleaf Whittier's 

Snow Bound

A Winter Idyll

These stanzas struck a specially tender chord as round the fireside they recall

stories and memories from departed loved ones...

Some things will never change

We cannot turn back Time

Or reach its walls to rearrange

The pictures in its clime

Time cannot give back days

Or one moment when spent

The clock will never change its ways

Through laughter or lament 

To trust the Giver of 

Time's lease, as it unfolds

Helps us to make the most of love 

No matter what it holds

For love is worth the price

The heart is bound to pay

Grief is the sacred/solemn sacrifice

Love cannot hold at bay

Each tear a testament

And tender tribute to

The Time We Had to Paint Its Tent

Of air with 'I love you' 

For love, when life is through

Does not fade like a flow'r

The grave, though it must claim its due

Is Time's dust-and-ash bow'r

And though the heart may tear

And though the eye may brim

God, rich in mercy helps us bear

Love's grief for her or him

...until each loss we brave

Will deck departure's sod 

Time's inheritance is the grave

Love's inheritance, God 

The Time We Have To Spend

Is precious, but a glove/knife

The Giver of its lease, my friend

Is Everlasting Love/Life 

The clang of 'my' and 'me' 

Soon flies like worthless chaff

Only true love transcends Time's spree

God seals its autograph 

The Tree that spawns the limbs

Where leaf sojourn is brief/runs rife 

Offers comfort that never dims

As long as there is grief/life

Janet Martin

1 Cor.13:12

For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face:

Do you know the One who purchased, holds and anchors

the hope of Heaven/God?

Rev.21:4

He will wipe every tear from their eyes. 

There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, 

for the old order of things has passed away.”

Dear Lucy, Like a Priceless Souvenir

These days, (Christmas season) when I am asked how I'm doing 

(regarding the sorrow of missing Lucy)

I've come to realize the raw edge of grief has faded into a tender, deep, deep ache,

that, by the grace of God, I will treasure like a priceless souvenir, as long as I live...

Dear Lucy, As Time goes by...

The raw edge of love’s heartache fades

And in its tender stead

An anguish of longing invades

The place where angels tread

To comfort us as we recall

Your voice, your smile, your touch

To gather up the tears that fall

As we miss you so much

While seasons roll across the land

As if nothing has changed

As we learn to weather time’s hand

With part of us estranged

The heart begins to reconcile

The void that will remain

To ache for your voice, touch and smile

Until we meet again

…and though the raw edge of grief fades

Beneath love’s brave façade

An anguish of longing invades

The place where we find God

He helps us treasure every tear

Each thought of you imparts

A precious, priceless souvenir

To harbour in our hearts

Time takes it toll and always will

For better-worse, it flies

And draws us all along until

It severs earthly ties

Where, pray we each leave in life’s wake

Of hold-to-letting go

The souvenir of love’s heartache

In all who miss/love us so

Janet Martin

Sometimes I'm Tempted To Suppose

Sometimes I’m tempted to suppose life lovelier without the rain...

A year ago today was also rainy, 

the day we huddled solemnly beneath umbrellas,

 around a freshly dug grave; the grave of Dear Lucy

while our tears and nature's tears mingled...

Sometimes I’m tempted to suppose the rose sweeter without its thorn...

Sometimes I’m tempted to suppose the rose sweeter without its thorn

Love better without loss or pricks, life kinder without ups and downs

Or battles between wrong and right, or tug-of-wars that leave us torn

Twixt Now and scenes perfected by what we forget of faded frowns

Sometimes I’m tempted to suppose life lovelier without the rain

Happiness fuller without pain of broken bodies, dreams and hearts

Or weariness from tolls of toil and pangs of till-we-meet-again

But then how would we recognize the prize of highs, life's low imparts

Without the hill how would we thrill at views while filled with speechless thanks

Would triumph be as sweet without the test of spirit, strength and limb?

Without the thorn would roses rise to calls reserved for rarer ranks

Without loss, push and shove, could love compose a truly noble hymn?

Sometimes I’m tempted to suppose Plan without interruption best

Hope choicer, without waiting for the timing/answer only God bestows

Easy Street more appealing than the twists and turns of bitter test

But then, without the thorns of life how would we recognize its rose?

Janet Martin

 

Alan Jackson - Sissy's Song lyrics

James 1:2-4

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, 

when you encounter trials of many kinds,

 3because you know that the testing of your faith

 develops perseverance.

 4Allow perseverance to finish its work,

 so that you may be mature and complete, 

not lacking anything.

It's Been a Year...

Today marks a year of trusting God's purpose

in taking Lucy from this earth...

Thank-you everyone, for your caring and support throughout this year!

God bless you all!

Deut.29:29

 (The verse that Lucy's funeral message was drawn from)

“The secret things belong to the Lord our God,

 but those things which are revealed belong to us 

and to our children forever, 

that we may do all the words of this law.

Dear Lucy...

(Beloved Daughter, sister, wife, sister-in-law,

daughter-in-law, mother, mother-in-law, aunt and Grammy 

and beloved friend, missed by many) 

It's been a year of succumbing to grips

With 'what is', again and again

Of trusting in God when His Sovereignty strips

Sure answers from every 'amen'

It's been a year of  meek joy, sorrow-awed

By loss that has left a huge hole

While finding firsthand, the faithfulness of God

Whose rod and staff comforts the soul

It's been a year of considering oft

This life and what fashions its worth

Before The Intangible is borne aloft

And body returns to the earth

...before the measure of Lifetime is weighed

In a Balance, sacred and just

Before Truth reveals where treasure is laid

Before Soul-to-God, dust-to-dust 

It's been a year of relinquishing 'why?'

To God's higher purpose and will

Until hymns come true, In the Sweet By and By

What a Day That Will be, Peace, Be Still

It's been a year where we felt the full force

Of Hope's/Faith's utter un-commonplace 

Of drinking in moments, more tuned to the Source

Like nectar from fountains of grace

...of four-word love-letters like 'thaw, heat and serve'

'How are you doing', 'I'm praying for you'

While weathering many-a-sharp learning curve

 While suffering love's decreed due  

...while we stuffed our faces into peonies

While we gathered to reminisce 

While we laughed and wept, and made new memories

Honored with , 'Lucy would have loved this!' 

It's been a year of hope's anchor reviewed 

Of love abounding more and more

Why does it take loss to renew gratitude 

For each other, like never before?

It's been a year of hug-warm tender care

Of heartaches no poem can spell 

Of kindness on kindness, of prayer upon prayer

Of tears for the flower that fell 

Of feeling a keen sense of urgency

For all still like sheep, wandering 

 Ignoring impending eternity

As if it were not a sure thing 

 

It's been a year of learning to let go

While holding the part left behind

Of frames filled with pictures and echoes that flow

Through sorrow and joy intertwined 

It's been a year of oft coming to terms

With what we can never undo 

While leaning on the everlasting arms

Of God, who is faithful and true

It's been a year of learning to revere

A law we should never dismiss

Of, 'If the Lord wills we shall live and go here

Or there, and do that or this'  

Janet Martin

James 4:13-15

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, 

spend a year there, carry on business, and make a profit.”

 14You do not even know what will happen tomorrow!

 What is your life? 

You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

Instead you ought to say,

 “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.”

Deut.33:27

The eternal God is your refuge,
And underneath are the everlasting arms;

Leaning on the Everlasting Arms

Be Still, My Soul

Dear Lucy, Of Memories We Treasure Now...

There is something heart-wrenchingly healing

as I compose each Dear Lucy poem/post!

Thank-you, Lord

This quote (author unknown), rings so true 🙏💓

When someone you love becomes a memory

the memory (and memories) become a treasure...

Tomorrow it will be 11 months since someone I took far too for granted

(Dear Lucy,  the middle sister of the five Martin girls)

 became a memory to treasure...and oh, what a bitterly-sweetest treasure!

Below is a group of friends that tried

to get together for at least a few of our birthdays

every year..(one friend absent from these shots)

These tea-parties have become cherished memories to treasure!

(Lucy, third from the left) 

Above photo Oct. 2023, a birthday tea at the café where Lucy served us with

honour and delight!

Lucy LOVED serving her friends and family either in her home

 or at various restaurants and cafés

where she worked throughout her life!

Below Mar. 27 2024 (Lucy's last birthday)

my mom, sister and I surprised her at work

and came for lunch

This memory plus many more while sitting at her kitchen table,

inspired the first four lines of this month's poem.

Your brisk, bouncy, efficient stride

Your happiness when serving us

Your table set with loving pride

Your pleasure in the detail-fuss...

Your brisk, bouncy, efficient stride

Your happiness when serving us

Your table set with loving pride

Your pleasure in the detail-fuss

Your smile, your spontaneity

Your tardy tune-in with 'what?! who?!'

Your love of home and family

And interest in others too

Your faith, that deepened joy and grief

Your prayers for fellow hopes and hurts

Your delight in each season's brief

Beauty-fest. Your fresh-baked desserts

Your 'artist's eye' for painting things

Your energy to get it done

Your sentimental renderings

Or humorous, quick-witted pun

Your love of books, of poetry

Of anything worthy to read

Of planting a garden to see

The miracle in every seed

Your kindred-spirit-common-ground

With we who  love the loss of words

When truth's epiphanies confound

The tongue, but leave hearts and souls stirred

Your boundless appetite for life

While weathering its 'yes' and 'nope'

From a fountain of mercy, rife

With opportunity and hope

Your encouraging wisdom born

From your own share of bitter blows

Your willingness to brave love's thorn 

To reap the beauty of its rose  

Your one-and-only-you, oh how

We miss your precious presence here

Where memories we treasure now 

Are love's beautiful keepsakes, dear

Reminding us, through smiles and tears

To thank God for the blessing of

Bearing the part sorrow reveres 

Because we were part of your love

By your sister Janet on

behalf of so many

'treasure-embracers' 

B-day celebration at D's house

(June 2021)

Another B-day celebration...

this one at my house (Sept.2022)

...and another below at 'J's'  house

(June 2023)

Ps.116:15 NIV

Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his faithful servants.