There's an empty chair beside you, There's a name you long to hear, There's a space no one can fill now, And a silence everywhere. You don't have to stop remembering, You don't have to be okay— But while you're reaching for the one who's gone, Don't lose the ones who stayed. When you've lost the one who raised you, Half your world can disappear, And the parent who is still here May not know how to draw near. They are grieving someone too, now, While they're watching you pull away— You can mourn the one you cannot hold And still hold the one who stayed. Don't lose the ones who stayed While you're grieving who is gone. Don't let one goodbye keep taking From the life that's carrying on. There are hearts that still need loving, There are words still left to say, You can honor those you've lost Without losing those who stayed. When a child is taken from you, There is no replacing them. There will always be a missing Where that precious life had been. But there may be other children Still looking toward your face, Needing you to see they're hurting too, Needing you to stay. Grief can narrow all your vision Till the absence fills the room, Till the love that's standing near you Disappears behind the gloom. And no one means to leave them lonely, No one chooses it that way— Sometimes sorrow holds us so tightly We stop seeing who has stayed. Don't lose the ones who stayed While you're grieving who is gone. Don't let one goodbye keep taking From the life that's carrying on. There are hearts that still need loving, There are words still left to say, You can honor those you've lost Without losing those who stayed. Say their name. Tell their stories. Keep their pictures on the wall. Cry when something brings the memories, Miss them through it all. Love does not require forgetting. Healing doesn't mean they're gone. But the greatest way to honor love May be to keep loving on. So turn sometimes from the empty chair And look around the room— There are people there who need you, And they're missing someone too. Don't lose the ones who stayed While you're loving who is gone. Let their memory walk beside you, But let living love go on. There are hands that still can hold you, There are memories left to make, There are people who would give anything For the love you still can give today. So grieve the one you're missing. Love them always. Speak their name. But don't let losing one you love Become another loss someday. There will always be an empty place. Some losses never fade. Just don't let the empty place Hide the ones who stayed.
