AIDAN'S DIARY - DECEMBER 2002  - CHAPEL SERVICE

Andy’s Gone with Cattle

Our Andy's gone with cattle now.
Our hearts are out of order.
With drought he's gone to battle now
Across the Queensland border.
He's left us in dejection now
Our thoughts with him are roving.
It's dull on this selection now
Since Andy went a droving.

Who now will wear the cheerful face
In times when things are slackest?
And who shall whistle 'round the place
When fortune shows her blackest?
And who shall cheek the squatter now
When he comes 'round us snarling?
His tongue is growing hotter now
Snce Andy crossed the Darling.

Oh may the showers in torrents fall
And all the tanks run over
And may the grass grow green and tall
In pathways of the Drover.
And may good angels send the rain
On desert stretches sandy.
And when the summer comes again,
God grant it brings Andy.

- Words: Henry Lawson, 
- Tune Traditional Arrangement: Fitzgerald
- Music: Walliston School Choir, Soloists: Evan Morton, Chris Keast

Evacuee

Each time on my leaving home
I run back to my mother’s arms,
one last hold and then it’s over.
Watching me, you know I cry,
you wave a kiss to say goodbye,
Feel the sky fall down upon me!
All I am,
a child with promises
All I have
are miles full of promises of home.
If only I could stay with you,
my train moves on, you’re gone from view,
Now I must wait until it’s over.
Days will pass, your words to me,
It seems so long; eternity,
but I must wait until it’s over.

- Enya (from Shepherd Moons)

Introduction - Gayle O’Leary-Barlow
 

Memories Of Aidan (Eulogy) - James Carter

Look here.

Short Measures - Liz Evans

It is not growing like a tree
In bulk, doth make Man better be;
Or standing long an oak, three hundred year,
To fall a log at last, dry, bald and sere;
A lily of a day
Is fairer in May,
Although it fall and die that night -
It was the plant and flower of light.
In small proportions we just beauties see;
And in short measures life may perfect be.

- Ben Jonson (1572 - 1637)

Letter To Tim, Trish, Caitlin, Liam & Evan - Barb Thomson
 

Look here.

On My First Sonne - Peter Engler

Farewell, thou child of my right hand, and joy;
My sinne was too much hope of thee, lov'd boy,
Seven yeeres tho'wert lent to me, and I thee pay,
Exacted by thy fate, on the just day.
O, could I lose all father, now. For why
Will man lament the state he should envie?
To have so soone scap'd worlds, and fleshes rage,
And, if no other miserie, yet age?
Rest in soft peace, and, ask'd, say here doth lye
BEN. JONSON his best piece of poetrie.
For whose sake, henceforth, all his vowes be such,
As what he loves may never like too much.

- Written by Ben Jonson for his son Benjamin, who died
in 1603 on his seventh birthday.

Sometimes - Gayle O’Leary-Barlow

Sometimes on our journey through life
we meet people who leave footprints on our mind
they challenge us to see things differently
and to question our personal reality.
Sometimes on our journey through life
we meet people who leave footprints on our heart
they create a safe place for us 
to open our hearts to feel loved and special.
Then sometimes on our journey through life
we meet people who leave footprints on our souls
they share themselves with us so profoundly
that they touch the very essence of who we are
in that secret quiet place.
Aidan has left footprints on the minds, hearts
and souls of many here today.
May we always remember the beauty of his love,
the strength of his spirit, and the sacred way he touched our lives. 

Since Nancy Died

Most of the time I go my way,
I live my life from day to day,
But thoughts I used to push away
I no longer turn aside.
So though I might seem quite unchanged,
Untouched, unmoved, quite self-contained,
You know I’ve never been the same
Since Nancy died.
Things ain’t been the same
Things ain’t been the same
Things ain’t been the same
Since Nancy died.
For what was distant is now near,
And what was misty is now clear,
What was tomorrow is now here
No longer can I hide.
And all my silly fantasy
Of my immortality
How foolish now they seem to be
Since Nancy died.
I thought there for a while,
You’d never stop dying
I thought there, for a while,
I’d never start crying.
Most of the time I go my way,
I live my life from day to day,
But thoughts I used to push away
I no longer turn aside.
So though I might seem quite unchanged,
Untouched, unmoved, quite self-contained,
You know I’ve never been the same
Since Nancy died.

- Eric Bogle (from Now I'm Easy)

I Remember Aidan - Tim Telcik

Look here.

Birds & Ships

The birds are singing in your eyes today
Sweet flowers blossom in your smile
The wind and sun are in the words you say
Where might your lonesome lover be?
Birds may be singing in my eyes this day
Sweet flowers blossom when I smile,
But my soul is stormy and my heart blows wild,
My sweetheart rides a ship on the sea

- Words: Woody Guthrie, Music: Billy Bragg, Vocals: Natalie Merchant

Last updated: 13-Apr-2003