I wrote this poem after my mother, Shirley Jose, passed away on March 28, 2002. She suffered from congestive heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Since most of her living friends, as well as her one remaining brother, were unable to attend a memorial, I decided to write a poem and send it with a picture for them to remember her by.

A failing body now made glorious,
I breathe freely

The weight of troubles lifted,
I breathe soaring

A lifetime of disappointments forgotten,
I breathe rejoicing

For everything that burdened my being,
I breathe no longer remembering

Just know this: I can breathe

Copyright © 2002 Denise Niber. All rights reserved.