Gill Atkinson Civil Celebrant

12/09/2025

Moving On...

At first, everyone will understand. At the funeral they will understand and in the immediate aftermath they will get it.

But after a while, they might talk of moving on.

And to that, I say…

You don’t move on. You just move forwards.

Losing someone you love is a moment in time that sends shockwaves throughout the rest of your life.

The moment may have passed. But the repercussions will not.
Because how do you move on when parts of them are parts of you?

The way you put the sugar in your cup before you’ve added the coffee – that’s because of them.

The way you use scissors to cut pizza into slices because that’s how they used to do it.

The way you fold chip packets into triangles because they taught you how to do it one summer.

We are all a mixture of everyone we have ever known.
And so, when they are gone, little parts of us are gone too.
But the opposite is also true: as long as we are here, they remain.
In us.

In all of our little everyday habits that were once theirs and became ours.

So, do not feel pressure to move on.

Only forwards.

Knowing you will be carrying them with you all the way.

******

Becky Hemsley 2022
Artwork by Amanda Cass

Moving On is from When I Am Gone
https://a.co/d/iRPt7mh

19/08/2025

love came first…

My love to all who are grieving. ❤️

(A beautifully illustrated version of this is in my next book ‘Joy chose you’ )

19/06/2025

Grief is like a tightrope
That is stretched out long and thin
A road ahead so narrow
You don’t know how to begin

The world below is distant
Like you’re not part of it all
And the line ahead is fragile
One wrong move and you could fall

There’s hardly space to breathe here
And you question every step
It’s hard to trust your footing
When you’re always on the edge

Each move becomes a challenge
As you falter and you shake
Balancing along a path
You didn’t choose to take

For grief is like a tightrope
A thin and fragile line of loss
And it seems as if that’s all you have
To cling to as you cross

But know that there’s a safety net
In love that lies below
And it’s holding out its arms
To say “I’m watching as you go”

And when you hold your arms out
To the side to steady you
That’s when love grabs your hand and says,
“I’m here. We’ll make it through.”

*****

Becky Hemsley 2025
Artwork by Brooke Shaden

This poem is from my latest collection for grief and loss: I Missed You Quietly Today https://a.co/d/fT3hJoL

14/06/2025

“Goodnight my darling, I’ll see you tomorrow”
That is what we always said
As the night swallowed day and the moon made its way
To the darkening sky overhead

But one day my whole world was darkened
As tomorrow for you never came
And so now when I wake, there is only an ache
As I know I won’t see you again

And it’s hard to explain feeling empty
And yet so full of pain all at once
Like a door that’s been closed, yet left open, exposed
Like a spotlight on something that’s gone

And the thoughts of tomorrow are too much
So I’ve come for a walk on my own
And I’m breathing in now, like I’m just learning how
Asking why must I do this alone?

Then I realise that you are beside me
You’re the wind as it kisses my hair
You’re the birds and the flowers, the fresh April showers,
The leaves as they dance through the air

You are everything I can see life in
Like the feathers I find on the ground
And I suddenly see that the world beside me
Is where whispers of you can be found

So I’ll look out for signs that you’re with me
And in time they might lessen the sorrow
And as night swallows day, listen – you’ll hear me say
“Goodnight darling, I’ll see you tomorrow”

******

Becky Hemsley 2022
Artwork by Thomas Little Design

For anyone who needs this poem today ❤️‍🩹
It's from my book 'When I Am Gone' https://a.co/d/5vxLZxO

14/06/2025

For those who will find Sunday difficult this year, you are not alone. x

White feather

It fell right there before me
So silent to the ground
It twirled a little in the air
Like dancing with no sound

I held it gently in my hands
It was so soft to touch
I felt it was a message
From someone I missed so much

I put it in my pocket
Maybe it was from an angels wing
Somebody who is guiding me
Through the troubles that life brings

It will help me through the tough days
Now we are no longer together
I will find comfort every time I see
A beautiful soft white feather

Burton
Poems by Rach

18/05/2025

(The Winding Road)
I saw a road that led me
to the shining sun.
I knew I'd find you there
so off I went to run.

You were my sunshine,
my warmth and happy place.
I could not wait to get there
but I couldn't keep the pace.

The road was getting thinner.
I was running in the spot.
The sun was far away
but oddly you were not.

I felt the warmth around me.
The sun was nowhere near.
I stood and watched the clouds
make it disappear.

"Will I ever laugh again?
Will I be alright?
Will I ever find you
in the darkness of the night?"

The sun wrapped around me,
or that is what I thought
but it was your love for me
that the sun had brought.

Joanne Boyle ~ Heartfelt

24/04/2025

Especially for Michelle x

I called on you tonight.
Did you see me standing there?
Was it just a dream?
To be honest I don't care.

There was only the two of us,
underneath a moonlit sky.
Together in a moment,
were teardrops ran dry.

The trees slightly swayed,
as they whispered "I am here."
I didn't want to move,
incase you'd dissapear.

I looked into your eyes.
The love between us spoke.
Words without a voice,
before a heart was broke.

I called on you tonight,
and I know you met me there.
Was it just a dream?
To be honest I don't care.

Joanne Boyle ~ Heartfelt
artist Steffi Krenzek

23/04/2025

Everyone grieves in their own way...be kind. x

Maybe this will help.
~Beautiful Ramblings

Thank you LEAVE HER WILD

21/04/2025

Holiday weekends are especially difficult for those who have lost someone...x

Always.

31/03/2025

True.❤️‍🩹
~Beautiful Ramblings

Author Unknown

#ａｌｏｎｅ

28/03/2025

I met with 4am last night
She said to say hello
And she said she’s seen a lot of you
Since several weeks ago

She said she hears your worries
When you’re lying there awake
But she’d rather watch you sleeping
With a smile upon your face

So she’s gathered up your worries
And she feeds them to the stars
And they swallow them with fire
‘Til they’re left with only half

Then they whisper to the sun
As she begins her morning climb
And the sunshine takes your worries
And accepts them every time

She chops them into pieces
‘Til she’s left with merely grains
Then she throws them to the clouds
So they can gently fall as rain

And the sunlight then transforms
Your drops of worry into hope
So that rainbow that you see?
That’s 4am saying hello

******

Becky Hemsley 2020
Beautiful artwork by Graciela Perrone, Artist

'4am' is in my first collection
https://amzn.eu/d/eC1UR2b

28/03/2025

Maybe this will help.
~Beautiful Ramblings

Thank you girl_meets_grief and laurelbox