When the Final Goodbye Must Wait

A prayer for the days between death and burial, when the funeral is still ahead and the final goodbye must wait.

Makor HaNechamah (Source of Comfort),

Our beloved has died.

And the world keeps moving,

Though ours has somehow stopped.

Hold us

As we clutch our memories,

And carry the unbearable weight of an absence

We are only beginning to understand.

HaRachaman (Compassionate One),

The funeral is still days away.

There are arrangements to make,

People to call, decisions to face.

Yet beneath the busyness,

Our hearts are breaking.

We long to lay her to rest,

Though our hearts are not ready to say goodbye.

Shomer Yisrael (Guardian of Israel),

Watch over our beloved in these days between.

May her soul be bound in Tzror haChayim (the bond of life).

And watch over us, too,

Through the sleepless nights,

The sudden tears,

The moments we reach for the phone

To tell her something,

Before remembering she will never answer.

Elohei HaNechamah (God of Consolation),

Grant us permission

To grieve before the gathering,

To cry before the Kaddish,

To fall apart before the funeral,

And remember before the eulogies.

Let laughter come without guilt,

Let tears fall without shame,

And let love linger

In the silence where her voice once lived.

And when the day of farewell finally comes,

Help us find the words we need,

And forgive us for the words we cannot speak.

Until then, hold her in eternity,

And hold us here, through these aching days of waiting.

For death may have ended her days,

But it cannot end our love.

Amen.