There was a lovely princess
Who lived short time ago;
She laughed with other children
And played in sand and snow.

The princess had a brother;
They never were apart.
They did all things together,
As joined from heart to heart.

The princess called him Buddy,
For they were loyal friends.
Their days were filled with sunshine,
Their nights with pleasant dreams.

Then one day blackness covered them—
They run and play no more.
The princess and her buddy—
Together evermore!

Amy and her children, Ashleigh, Buddy, and Alysa

My sister Amy’s youngest children, ages 5 and 7, were tragically taken from this life in a house fire on May 8, 2006. She had the pain of burying them the day before Mother’s Day. Although time has softened the pain, to this day I cannot read this poem without weeping for her loss—our loss. But we take comfort in the words of King David in II Samuel 12:23. Buddy and Alysa cannot return to us, but we will go to them.

Photos taken in South Hill, Virginia, 2004, at a family reunion approximately 2 years before Buddy and Alysa left this world for the next

“Princess” Alysa with Grandpa and Puppy Love