A B’s memory bench

09/09/2025

Signs You’re Still Here

Every once in a while,
you send me a sign,
a gentle nudge,
a flash of memory,
a whispered “I’m here.”

When everything crumbles,
and nothing's going right,
I feel you're still working behind the scenes,
calling in favors,
pulling strings,
smoothing the way in quiet, subtle ways.

It appears in small miracles,
in quiet moments that catch me by surprise,
an unexpected kindness,
a stranger’s gentle smile,
a door opening
just when I need it most.

These little signs let me know you're still here,
a gentle presence woven into my days,
reminding me always that you are still near,
guiding and taking care of me
in so many tender ways.

~ 'Signs You're Still Here' by Spirit of a Hippie

✍️ Mary Anne Byrne

~ Art Unknown via Pinterest

01/07/2025

28/06/2025

It already has…

Rumi is Rumi

23/04/2025

There is something sacred about a storm over the ocean, the wind howling, the waves crashing, and a single ray of light breaking through the darkness. It touches something within us. Even in the fiercest storms, there is presence, there is power, and the quiet promise of light.

Grief is a journey of the soul. It begins with the storm, in the unraveling, in the ache, in the hollow silence of loss. And it can take a long time. Far longer than we imagined. Longer than others may understand.

We don’t “move on.” We move through. Slowly. Quietly. With tears, with pain, with memory. And then, one day, perhaps gently, without even noticing, the light begins to return. Not to erase the loss, that will never happen, but to walk alongside it.

We don’t learn how to let go. We learn how to carry forward. How to live with both the loss and the love. We begin to build a new relationship with the one who has gone, not one of touch, but of soul. An unseen connection that whispers to our broken hearts: ‘’I am still with you’’.

And from that sacred knowing, we find a new spark of joy, we carry the love, and keep them alive, engraved in our soul. This is how we begin to live again.
~Zeta

16/02/2025

The ones we love never truly leave us. Their presence lingers in the smallest moments—
In the whisper of the wind, in a song that carries their memory, in the way our hearts still ache for them.

They are in the lessons they taught us, in the warmth of the love they gave, and in the strength they instilled in us to carry on.

Though life moves forward, their imprint remains—
A love that cannot be erased, a connection that not even death can break.

They may be beyond our sight, but they live on in us.
Forever loved. Forever remembered.

~ ' They Are Never Truly Gone' by Dealing With Grief Dealing With Grief

~ Image via Pinterest

13/02/2025

When someone we love becomes a memory, their essence doesn’t fade—it becomes a part of who we are. Their laughter, their quirks, their kindness—it lives in the stories we tell, the traditions we carry on, and the moments we quietly relive in our hearts. Grief, as painful as it is, is proof of love that refuses to let go. It’s the thread that binds us to them, a bond unbroken by time or absence.

Society may tell us to move on, to tuck away our pain and carry on as if the world hasn’t changed. But grief isn’t a burden to be silenced; it’s an act of love in motion. It’s in the whisper of their name, the retelling of their stories, the quiet moments when we feel their presence beside us.

When someone asks, “Tell me about them,” it’s as if a door to their memory opens. Suddenly, they’re here again—alive in our words, our smiles, even our tears. Sharing their memory is how we honor them, how we ensure their legacy endures.

To grieve is to love boldly, unapologetically, and without restraint. It’s a reminder that they mattered—that they still matter. Speak their name. Share their stories. Let their memory shape the world, because through us, they live on.

~ Dealing with Grief Dealing With Grief

~ Art by Duy Huynh

15/01/2025

If I should leave without saying good bye
Please know that it was not by choice
The odds were stacked against me
And it was my time to go .

If I should leave quietly, without notice,
Please be aware that my journey will continue
And that I am free of suffering and pain
I continue to exist, but in a different form.

If you happen to notice my absence
I urge you to search a little deeper for my presence,
and feel assured that I never really left you .
And I continue to be there, right by your side.

And if you ever feel bereft and lonely
I hope you know that love never dies
And no matter how much time passes
There will come a time when we meet again .

Until then, be patient..
And remember
Love is eternal...

~C.E. Coombes

04/01/2025

"Nothing you love is lost. Not really. Things, people—they always go away, sooner or later. You can’t hold them, any more than you can hold moonlight. But if they’ve touched you, if they’re inside you, then they’re still yours. The only things you ever really have are the ones you hold inside your heart."
Bruce Coville - Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher

Artist: Naoko Stoop Illustration

Pairing by Whispers from the Heart

23/12/2024

Hope is the thing with feathers
that perches in the soul
and sings the tunes without the words
and never stops at all..

Emily Dickinson 🏵️

Artist Credit : Iris Esther

28/10/2024

They say that when you’re broken
This is how the light gets in
But what if all the cracks
Are letting out the light within?

They say it makes you stronger
But at first it makes you weak
The way you face the mountain base
Before you reach the peak

They say to break is brave
And yet your mind is full of dread
You’re not overwhelmed by courage
But by helplessness instead

But admitting you are breaking
Is far braver than you know
And remember, from the bottom
There is just one way to go

See, I think they mean it isn’t just
That breaking makes you strong
But the way you use the embers
Of your will to carry on

It’s triumph over trauma
And it’s healing after hurt
It’s rising from the ashes
With a new-found sense of worth

So find yourself a candle
And allow its tiny spark
To ignite you back to life
And put the fire back in your heart

And grant yourself compassion
For the times that you feel weak
Just rest until you’re strong enough
To get back on your feet

Yes, I know that when you’re broken
You have only threads of hope
But tie them to the mountain
Like your personal safety rope

Then gather at the bottom
With the summit high above
Then take a breath and take a step
The only way is up

******

This is on my Etsy store as digital prints, A4 prints and postcards 🩵

Becky Hemsley 2021
Beautiful artwork by Anna Speshilova

'The Climb' is from my second collection:
https://a.co/d/gzBzdtW

28/10/2024

It is okay to be in this space. The transition, the messy middle, the space in between. You've moved on but you haven't yet arrived. You've left behind what you needed to, but the puzzle pieces haven't all yet come together. There is messiness. There is waiting. There is uncertainty. You are wanting to rush but everything is moving slow. You are wondering if you will get to where you want to go. But where you are is perfect. The messy middle is for doors to close and new doors to open. This transition period is where things come undone so that they can be put back together. This is a season of just being, of trusting. This is a season to pause and take a breath. Have love for yourself, you are exactly where you need to be.

~ 'Waiting' by Lisa Buscomb

~ Art by Byeol Hyuna

28/10/2024

Song for Autumn ~ by Mary Oliver

Don’t you imagine the leaves dream now how comfortable it will be to touch the earth instead of the nothingness of the air and the endless freshets of wind?

And don’t you think the trees, especially those with mossy hollows, are beginning to look for birds that will come—six, a dozen—to sleep inside their bodies?

And don’t you hear the goldenrod whispering goodbye, the everlasting being crowned with the first tuffets of snow?

The pond stiffens and the white field over which the fox runs so quickly brings out its long blue shadows.

The wind wags its many tails. And in the evening the piled firewood shifts a little, longing to be on its way.

Teagan White, Artist