Cooper

My brother-in-law is one of the nicest people you will ever meet. Truly. And he has had a hard few years with the loss of his mother, then is sister shortly after, and now his brother. I guess that makes him the patriarch now. (Hmmm, he might like that.) My BIL is called Coop and it turns out his brother was always called Cooper. Can you tell their last name?

We attended a wonderful memorial for him last weekend and one of the readings follows. It struck a chord with me so I had to find it and share.

He is Gone
You can shed tears that he is gone
or you can smile because he has lived.
You can close your eyes and pray that he'll come back
or you can open your eyes and see all he's left.
Your heart can be empty because you can't see him
or you can be full of the love you shared.
You can turn your back on tomorrow and live yesterday
or you can be happy for tomorrow because of yesterday.
You can remember him and only that he's gone
or you can cherish his memory and let it live on.
You can cry and close your mind, be empty and turn your back
or you can do what he'd want: smile, open your eyes, love and go on.
- Anonymous

(The version I found on line was She is Gone.)