Appreciation Before Death
A FRIEND has been taken from among you; there is a gap in your community, and the loss is regretted. You find a satisfaction in saying that he was a kind friend and good neighbor. Did you ever, by word or act, let him know that you appreciated his worth? Perhaps his life was bare and barren for just the praise you are so willing to pour upon his memory. A few words of the eulogy pronounced upon him now would have cheered him, giving him fresh courage to bear his burden in the round of everyday duties. The flowers strewn so lavishly upon many coffins are but emblematic of the appreciation we shower upon our friends after their death. One bud from the many lying on the coffin-lid would have gladdened your friend in life more than the wealth of blossoms can refresh him now. Still we continue to withhold the pleasant appreciation we might show, until too late, as some one has pointedly said:— "The flowers life denied to you,
Lie on your coffin-lid."