For a Young Person

There are some lives that shine so brightly
that even a brief time leaves a lasting light.
Yours was such a life.

You did not have the years
that the world says a life should hold.
But you had something that cannot be measured
in months or milestones:
you had love, given and received,
in abundance.

Every smile you gave,
every hand you held,
every room you walked into
was changed by your being there.

The grief we feel today is vast,
because the love was vast.
We would not wish the pain away
if it meant wishing you away too.

So we will honour you
not with silence but with living—
by being kinder, braver, gentler,
by carrying your light forward
into every ordinary day.

You were here.
You mattered.
You are loved still.
And you always will be.