Remember is a message sent by a man who has recently died to his widow who is miserable with grief. In it, he says, "Better by far that you should forget and smile than that you should remember and be sad." This poem is particularly poignant for me having witnessed my great-grandfather lose his wife of almost 70 years in 2004. He was a strong man but his typically sunny disposition became much more sombre. He was reunited with his wife four years later. In the years after his death, I often wondered what that time apart must have felt like having spent most of their lives together. Also, I wondered what my great-grandmother would have told her husband during that time having known that he was suffering. I'd like to think that she would say something like what is conveyed in Remember; something selfless, genuine, and full of love.

I have also written a companion piece for Remember entitled Echo for women's chorus. It is best described as the widow's plea for her husband to visit her in dreams. The poetry for both Echo and Remember were written by Christina Rossetti.

©2014

Remember for TTBB choir

" ...simultaneously innovative, intellectually stimulating, but most of all emotionally moving." - Maria Choban, Oregon ArtsWatch

Remember for TTBB choir

Brandon Stewart