In dedication to my father, David Clinton Tharp (WWII) and my brother, David Livingstone Tharp (KOREA) and all our men and women who served from WWI, WWII, KOREA, VIETNAM, THE FALKLANDS, THE GULF, IRAQ, AFGHANISTAN, we offer the following in memory to those who have suffered the loss of a loved one.
THE NEXT PLACE
The Next Place that I go won’t be like any place I’ve been or dreamed of in the place I left behind.
I won’t remember getting there, but know that I belong & feel more alive than I ever felt before. I will be free of the things that I held onto that were holding on to me. The Next Place will be joyful silence with unheard harmonies made by no one playing. There will be no darkness. The Next Place that I go won’t really be a place at all with no seasons, days or months. I will not be a boy, a girl, a woman or a man. I’ll simply be just simply me. My skin will not be dark or light. The body I once lived in won’t be part of me at all. I take with me the love of those who loved me, the warmth of those who cared, the happiness & memories & magic that we shared. I will know the joy of solitude, but never be alone. All these good things will go with me & make my spirit glow.
This light will shine forever in The Next Place that I go.
~ Warren Hanson, Author of The Next Place,
an inspirational journey of light and hope to a place where earthly hurts are left behind.
I read this excerpt from The Next Place at my beloved brother, David Tharp’s funeral service in 2009 and thought it appropriate to share with our Comes A Soldier’s Whisper visitors. We or many of us that is, have Fathers, Mothers, sisters and brothers who serve and are unable to return to us, and those who do often return changed, as my father would write, “on the inside” with a heavy and silent burden to carry. May we all offer our support in some measure to assist our troops returning home and get the love and care they so deserve from a grateful nation.
Comes A Soldier’s Whisper remembers until we all meet again and shine together as one…
Love and God Bless to all on this Memorial Day 2014
Jenny La Sala
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OFR Helping Vets www.operationfirstresponse.org
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