I am standing upon the seashore.
A ship at my side spreads her white
sails to the morning breeze and starts
for the blue ocean.
She is an object of beauty and strength.
I stand and watch her until at length
she hangs like a speck of white cloud
just where the sea and sky come
to mingle with each other.
Then, someone at my side says;
"There, she is gone!"
"Gone where?"
Gone from my sight. That is all.
She is just as large in mast and hull
and spar as she was when she left my side
and she is just as able to bear her
load of living freight to her destined port.
Her diminished size is in me, not in her.
And just at the moment when someone
at my side says, "There, she is gone!"
There are other eyes watching her coming,
and other voices ready to take up the glad shout;
"Here she comes!"
And that is dying.
-Henry VanDyke
Alison Frances Kline left port this evening at 1900 EST. She will be missed, but all hearts know that the one who she sails to will take far better care than I ever could.
I love you, Alison.
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Thomas and Alison Kline, April 2008
- Alison
- Middle Of, Indiana, United States
- Ali was diagnosed with Stage IV Cancer (Neuroendocrine Small Cell) when she was 25 years old. Her battle with cancer was one more way her beauty shined through. She was grace and strength. Her faith and spirit are what drives her husband, family and friends. Tom's still writing at "Our Lady, Star of the Sea."
40 comments:
Tom, I'm sitting here in total shock and sadness for you and your family and this incredible loss. I've been reading Alison's blog anonymously for the past couple of years and I've enjoyed watching the purity and beauty of the strong love that you've shared. Seeing the compassion and strength and joy that you both gave to one another was awe inspiring. I've felt blessed to witness such an amazing and empowering relationship and it's made me take the time to strive for the same in my own life. Thank you for sharing yourselves so unselfishly. You're in my thoughts and prayers. Rest in peace sweet Alison.
i have no words....
I don't know what to say, Tom, but we are here for anything you need. We love you and will be praying for you and the whole family.
I'm so sorry.
I am just speechless. In shock I guess. Alison was a beautiful person inside and out. She touched so many lives! She was just such a wonderful person. She will be greatly missed!! My prayers are with you Tom and her whole family!
Tom,
I never met Allison in person, but 'met' her on the Crazy Sexy Life pages a few months ago and have been following her progress over time and was so hopeful she was going to beat this. You have my deepest sympathies. I wish you all peace in this difficult time.
I went to school with Allison, and I want to share with you how she impacted my life......in school I was not a popular person and didn't have many friends...Allison was ALWAYS nice to me and made my days at school bareable. Allison was such a brave person and she showed me that no matter what happens in your life, everyday is worth living. She was a very unique and wonderful person with a very big heart. I prayed everyday that she would get better, because a person like Allison did not deserve all the pain she went through. Tom I have never met you but from what you have said and what Allison has said about you, you are a brave, caring, wonderful man. She could not have found better. I will keep you and your family in my prayers and just remember thank the lord our beautiful Allison is no longer in pain!!!
There are no words for your loss. I am so sorry. You and your family are in my thoughts and prayers. God Bless.
Sweet Alison you will be missed by many. I pray now for your husband and family. Rest in peace.
Colleen
I am also in shock and am thrown by how heavy my heart is right now. I have been following Allison's blog since Dec., when we were trying to figure out my tumor situation (turned out to be malignant Neuroendocrine tumor on the pancreas). Allison has been such an inspiration and has been on my heart since I began reading, I have continually prayed for her nightly.
I wish I had some comforting words for you, in this time of loss and grief but, again I am just so thrown by my own sadness at this moment. I will keep you lifted in prayer. Praise God she gets to be in the presence of our Lord. I look forward to the day when she and I will finally meet.
God bless!
Alison,
One last comment for you as you surely are in Heaven now. Thanks for letting me in. For being my friend. In so many ways you changed me, in so many ways I am a better wife, mother, Christian because of you. Although my heart aches for the things we will not do together, my heart rejoices as I know you have the best of all things in Jesus. I miss you, I love you. I will not forget those cherished memories that you burned into my heart. I will live, laugh and love the way you want me to. You are my best friend and are irreplaceable. For the moments were few, but they were so sweet.
Your Best-Friend,
Kimberly
Tom,
I was deeply sadened to hear of the passing of Alison. She was a wonderful person, and I feel very privileged to have known the both of you. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family at this time of loss.
God Bless,
The Deschamps
I am so sorry, she was such a light and joy. And she touched so many people through this communication channel on her blog! My prayers are with you.
Tom,
I know words do not touch the loss you are feeling right now, but I had to share this with you. I was listening to this song as I drove into work today and I was thinking of Alison and feeling the joy expressed in this song for her. I had no idea she had passed away until I got to work a few minutes ago... Listen to this song... it will make you smile as you think of the beauty and joy she is now a part of. Eternal joy... I didn't even know her, but I feel blessed to have even heard her story. I will pray for you as you continue on this difficult journey... Love and prayers. Amy
I Can Only Imagine
By Mercy Me
"I can only imagine what it will be like, when I walk by Your side...
I can only imagine, what my eyes will see, when Your Face is before me!
I can only imagine. I can only imagine.
Surrounded by Your Glory, what will my heart feel?
Will I dance for you, Jesus? Or in awe of You, be still?
Will I stand in Your presence, or to my knees will I fall?
Will I sing 'Hallelujah!'? Will I be able to speak at all?
I can only imagine! I can only imagine!
I can only imagine, when that day comes, when I find myself standing in the Son!
I can only imagine, when all I will do, is forever, forever worship You!
I can only imagine! I can only imagine!
Surrounded by Your Glory, what will my heart feel?
Will I dance for you, Jesus? Or in awe of You, be still?
Will I stand in Your presence, or to my knees will I fall?
Will I sing 'Hallelujah!'? Will I be able to speak at all?
I can only imagine! Yeah! I can only imagine!
Surrounded by Your Glory, what will my heart feel?
Will I dance for you, Jesus? Or in awe of You, be still?
Will I stand in Your presence, or to my knees will I fall?
Will I sing 'Hallelujah!'? Will I be able to speak at all?
I can only imagine! Yeah! I can only imagine!
I can only imagine! Yeah! I can only imagine!! Only imagine!!!
I can only imagine.
I can only imagine, when all I do is forever, forever worship You!
I can only imagine."
We love you Allison.
Alison,
You will be missed. I am so happy for you...now you are with your Father, painfree and happy. Thank you for making the world a better place.
Much love,
Lindsey
I am so truly sorry. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.
Tom... words cannot express how sorry I am. I'm just heart sick. Please know that we're all thinking of you, and we'll all miss Alison. Today is a sad day for us.
Tom,
Tim and I are so sad to receive this news. Alison was a wonderful person and so special!!!
Our thought and prayers are with you and the family as you deal with this great loss. May God Bless you in your time of need, just as he has Blessed us with knowing Alison.
Julia Sechrest
Alison,
Thank you for sharing your story and life with us. Beautiful, kind, creative, loving Alison...I am blessed to have you as a friend. Thank you for the memories, and for teaching us all to appreciate the small things, and to appreciate each other. You will always be missed, but we take comfort knowing you are pain free in heaven.
Much Love,
Kelly
I am so sorry - I will be praying for the entire family as you proceed through this.
You would know the secret of death.
But how shall you find it unless you seek it in the heart of life?
The owl whose night-bound eyes are blind unto the day cannot unveil the mystery of light.
If you would indeed behold the spirit of death, open your heart wide unto the body of life.
For life and death are one, even as the river and the sea are one.
In the depth of your hopes and desires lies your silent knowledge of the beyond;
And like seeds dreaming beneath the snow your heart dreams of spring.
Trust the dreams, for in them is hidden the gate to eternity.
Your fear of death is but the trembling of the shepherd when he stands before the king whose hand is to be laid upon him in honour.
Is the shepherd not joyful beneath his trembling, that he shall wear the mark of the king?
Yet is he not more mindful of his trembling?
For what is it to die but to stand naked in the wind and to melt into the sun?
And what is to cease breathing, but to free the breath from its restless tides, that it may rise and expand and seek God unencumbered?
Only when you drink from the river of silence shall you indeed sing.
And when you have reached the mountain top, then you shall begin to climb.
And when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance.
~ by Kahlil Gibran
(I am a friend of Penny's and had come across your blog a while ago and have been rooting for Alison the whole way. I am keeping you both in my thoughts and prayers. Rest in peace Alison)
Tom,
I am very sad for this news. I just want you to know that you and your family are in our thoughts and prayers.
Alison was such a blessing from God to know. May God Bless!
John & Mindy Morehead
Ali-
I hope to write a song for you. I wish I could have done this for you when you were still around and with us.
love you love you love you, see you in heaven... won't be too long. :)
Nagem
I also went to high school with Alison. She always had a smile on her face no matter what stupid English assignment we had next. I saw her post in 2006 when she was diagnosed and my thoughts and prayers were with her then as they still are now, not only for her but also for the ones she leaves behind. You have my deepest and sincere sympathies as you grieve her loss. Know that she is in good hands and you will see her again.
I started reading your blog after a prayer request for Alison was sent down through our church prayer chain.
I never met either of you but I was totally amazed by your love for her and her bright outlook on life.
I am so very sorry for your loss and I will miss her even though I never met her. You are in our prayers.
May she rest in peace with God.
My thoughts go out to you and your family. xo
The poem you chose is beautiful.
Dear Tom -
I came across Alison's blog soon after she started it. It was a privilige to witness such love, strength, joy, and grace while you both fought this fight. I think it was Martin Luther King that said a person's worth should not be measured by how they conducted themselves in times of plenty, but rather how they conducted themselves in times of trouble. Know you did all you could to support Alison through this experience and take a bit of comfort from that. Your actions these many months may seem obvious to you, but you handled a very difficult situation, that most people don't experience until much later in life, with strength and grace. So now, although she may be in a better place, you must go on without her in this world. Know that the pain will get less raw - it will never go alway entirely but eventually thoughts of Alison will bring more smiles than tears.
My thoughts and prayers are with you.
So sorry for your loss. You are in our prayers. God bless -
Alison, I'll never forget you. I'll keep making those yummy recipes you shared and thinking of you though you're far away.
Tom,
I know this is a very hard time for you but I am sure a lot of us would like to know how you and the family are doing!!! Please let us know when you are feeling up to it!!!
To the family of Alison I am truly sorry for you all! I attended high school with her and she was great. Always so nice and kind to everyone! A true inspiration of the kind of person I always strive to be and the kind I hope my daughters are as well! It makes me so sad to read her blog. I wish I would have had the chance to let her know the kind of impact she had on my life. Just the thought of a genuinely kind person. Thank god for letting me have a small piece of her. I will never forget!! To her husband, much sympathy as well as her family! And to her parent's, thanks for giving me the oppurtunity to have met such a wonderful person. I am so sorry!!
This morning at church, I heard our Pastor Dolson talk about being honest when we pray. We can't hide anything from God. He shared a story that struck me, "When we prayed at the bed of my fellow pastor Brad who had a stroke at the age of 36, we prayed with his wife and two daughters quite honestly. I led the prayer with "God, We feel this is WRONG for Brad, his family and friends and we are UPSET and ANGRY. Please bless us with understanding, comfort and peace regardless of your choice. Help us to find those around us to help us thru." And then I check tonight to see how you both are doing....and I have tears running down my face. I am SO sorry for your loss. I can only pray that you and your family are blessed with understanding, continued faith, comfort from God and the love of each other and to find some peace. And I will have my honest chat with God about how I wish this love story had 50-75 years to it. My heart goes out to you,Tom. Thank you for sharing Allison, and yourself with us all.
Tom, I am so sorry for your loss. I only met Alison a few times in Beaufort. I am good friends with Kim, and when we talk Alison's name would always come up. When I met her I just knew right away that she was a wonderful person. She was beaming and radiated such positive energy. New to the Marine Corps and new to marriage. I could tell she was extatic to share her life with you. I just remember seeing the two of you around, thinking, "Wow, what a beautiful happy couple." I still remember when Kim told me about Alison's diagnosis,I was shocked. She was so young and so happy to have a life with you. I just heard of her passing today and am truely grieving for you and your family. My thoughts and prayers are with you.
Shaunna & Christopher Albright
As an anonymous reader of both of your blogs since her initial diagnosis in 2006, I have to say that I am so sad to learn of the news.
Even though I've never met either of you, I prayed for you both. Allison touched many lives (in real life and online) over the last couple of years and her story is one that I will never forget.
My prayers are with you, and rest assured that God is also with you. Cancer is such an awful, awful thing and it has taken too many people, including some of my own close family members. At least it doesn't have her in its claws any longer and she's free and soaring with God.
Vale Alison
So, so sorry....
Ah...For the longest time, I read your sweet wife's blog. I am so sad for you and your family. I have sat sad, crying over the years while reading~ praying for you.
I know that you had a love that many people I meet each day have never even dreamed of. They don't know love's possibilities, how to share it themselves or receive it. Both you and Alison have been lucky to have had each other. Your pride for each other was amazingly beautiful.
I feel fortunate to have this same true love. I can only imagine your pain. She was such a beautiful woman with a sweet, strong spirit. How does this come across in a few written words with never meeting? It does and she will be missed.
I'm so very sorry~
Oh! I'm sorry Tom! I will always remember you guys, your strength and love
Beautiful and poignant poem
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