Celebrating Katie

Katie Louise Thewlis 31/03/1979 - 06/11/2009

“• my best friend • confidante • kind • helpful • drummer • brave • smiley • puffed out • funny • caring • sensible one • shy • creative • loving • mother • thank you for being a friend • daughter • bubbly • secretive • nosey • wife • good listener • vibrant • talented • exciting • sister • fun loving • one in a million • happy • contented • beautiful • sensitive • just being you • aye up lass are we having a bash? •

These are the hands that belong to meThese are the hands that comfort those I hold dearThese are the hands that wipe away the tearsThese are the hands that belong to me

These are the hands that belong to meThese are the hands that hate cotton woolThese are the hands that my children pullThese are the hands that are always fullThese are the hands that belong to me

These are the hands that belong to meThese are the hands that are worn and tornThese are the hands that held my new bornThese are the hands that cook and carryThese are the hands that are engaged to marryThese are the hands that belong to me

These are the hands that belong to me These are the hands that love to hold riches and fortunes untoldThese are the hands that touch and holdThese are the hands that tuck you up at nightThese are the hands that soothe your frightThese are the hands that care for my familyThese are the hands that belong to me

© Katie Thewlis

”

These are the hands that belong to me

Slowly climbing up the stairs,With limbs that age me sixty years,Head hung like the living dead,I’ve had my fill, I’m off to bed.

As I lay down and close my eyes,The flicker of streetlight slowly dies,My heavy eyes defy my mind,The deepest of sleeps, I easily find.

Lost in a world, I stand in a trance,Watching snowflakes merrily dance,An icy cold blast shoots through my bones,Tired and confused, I want to go home.

I start to walk, alone, to God only knows where,Butterflies in my stomach, full of despair,Filled with emptiness, the world’s asleep,Blizzard raging, already two foot deep.

A stranger, in a world I do not belong,No friends or family to walk among,Remnants of a tear stain my cheek.I look ahead, the futures bleak.

How long am I destined to walk this road?Heartbroken, carrying this heavy load,To come out of the darkness, into the light,Strong willed and determined, I put up a fight.

I will not carry on this path alone,Into the light, I will go home.

© Katie Thewlis

One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord. Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.

In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand. Sometimes there were two sets of footprints, other times there was one only.

This bothered me because I noticed that during the low periods of my life, when I was suffering from anguish, sorrow or defeat, I could see only one set of footprints, so I said to the Lord,

“You promised me Lord, that if I followed you, you would walk with me always. But I have noticed that during the most trying periods of my life there has only been one set of footprints in the sand. Why, when I needed you most, have you not been there for me?”

The Lord replied, “The years when you have seen only one set of footprints, my child, is when I carried you.”

Mary Stevenson, 1936

Dream Footprints in the Sand