That yearning of hers came from the soul of a traveler. No greater adventure can there be than to see what lays on the other side.
The fullness of life is not measured in terms of years. There are those who might say that Barbara experienced just eight short years of life. No. Barbara experienced an English spring, a soft Hawaiian summer, a June in the Michigan woods, and an August by blue New Hampshire lakes. Her calendar of time was marked off, not by days, but by experiences She had gained an appreciation of poetry such as is given to few adults, she was peeping into the mysteries of music, she had learned to read, and was beginning to express her thoughts on paper. And she had friends – international friends – for every day in the year. Her calendar was not of years, but of poems and friends and beauty.
Barbara knew and repeated two prayers. One was a prayer of thanks which she learned during her recent illness. It was simple and beautiful!
“We thank you, dear God, for fun and for friends.
We thank you for music and pictures and books.
We thank you for people The showing Your Love
And for work which makes us happy and strong.”
The other prayer was one which she learned at Kittiwake in England – a prayer taught to her by Mrs. Silcock. Every night for two years she has repeated it. It has been our prayer too, each day during my recent five months’ trip in the Orient, I made this prayer a constant part of my thoughts. And this prayer shall forever be our certain assurance that our little daughter Barbara shall be with us always and that her shining spirit shall go or with God forever. This is it:
“Gentle Jesus, meek and mild,
Look upon a little child.
Bless Auntie Silcock and all the little children.
Keep them safe and sound.
Bless Barbara and Adrienne.
Bless Mommy and Daddy, and everybody in the world. Amen
Each evening, after saying this prayer, we would kiss Barbara goodnight and she would always say: “Goodnight, Mommy. Goodnight, Daddy. T’ll be seeing you it the morning.” And we would reply: “Goodnight, Barbara. We’ll be seeing YOU in the morning, too.”
And so we shall.