"Ring out, wild bells"

Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,
The flying cloud, the frosty light;
The year is dying in the night;
Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.

Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.

Ring out the grief that saps the mind,
For those that here we see no more,
Ring out the feud of rich and poor,
Ring in redress to all mankind.

Ring out a slowly dying cause,
And ancient forms of party strife;
Ring in the nobler modes of life,
With sweeter manners, purer laws.

Ring out the want, the care the sin,
The faithless coldness of the times;
Ring out, ring out my mournful rhymes,
But ring the fuller minstrel in.

Ring out false pride in place and blood,
The civic slander and the spite;
Ring in the love of truth and right,
Ring in the common love of good.

Ring out old shapes of foul disease,
Ring out the narrowing lust of gold;
Ring out the thousand wars of old,
Ring in the thousand years of peace.

Ring in the valiant man and free,
The larger heart, the kindlier hand;
Ring out the darkness of the land,
Ring in the Christ that is to be.

Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Letters from the Family

Dear Bryan,

You were everything a Dad could hope for and more.

You had a good heart, always polite, always considerate of others, always up for a challenge. You were courageous, tenacious, and you never gave up. You have touched the lives of everyone who
knew you and many others whom you never met. You have been
loyal to your many friends and they have responded in return.

I shall always treasure the moments we had together,
the times we played catch, the times we saw the Raptors, Leafs,
and Jays play, and the times we went camping.

Your mom and I are so proud of you.
We will always love you and we will never forget you.
We know you are now resting in peace, having fun.
Your sense of humor still intact; we can hear you chuckling.

Love, Mom and Dad

Please God, take good care of him

Bryan was our older brother but always acted like a big kid just like

us whenever we were all together. Even though the four of us all

have very different personalities, the one thing that’s common between

us all is Bryan’s sense of humour, and that was always enough to bring

us all together. No matter how long it had been without seeing each

other because we were all off busy doing our own thing – the moment

Bryan cracked a joke when we were together or teased Nicole about

something it was like no time had passed at all.

The most vivid memories we have of Bryan are during our family

vacations. In the Wong family, it wasn’t a family vacation unless

someone got lost in Disney World. Bryan was infamous for this, but

always managed to find his way back. There was this one time when

all four of us got separated from Mom and Dad. But Bryan had a very

nonchalant attitude to him and never got nervous or scared whenever

this happened – we guess because he expected it to happen. He just

went about his own way, and it was this laid-back yet confident

attitude that was able to comfort us and keep the 3 of us from freaking

out even though we had no idea where we were or what we were doing.

His attitude was “there’s nothing we can do about it so might as well

enjoy the moment”

We’re going to miss Bryan immensely but he wouldn’t have wanted us

to remain sad because even though he’s not physically present, his spirit

will always be with us. We have with us relationships of memory of

special moments with Bryan that makes hoping for the future possible.

Bryan knew he was loved by his siblings and we know that he loved us

so that in itself brings comfort to us.

~ Michelle, Jason and Nicole

Bryan was my oldest brother and always acted the part. Whether he was

teasing me, showing me around Toronto, or holding me upside down by my

ankles. I always loved the times I got to share with him. He taught me my

first guitar chords and what a wet willy is - the hard way - and had a

certain charisma that always made me happy to see him. No matter how

old we are, Bryan always had some childish phrase that could lighten any

mood, and which I will never forget.

~ Nicole

Good Words

This was given to me by a good friend of the family a while ago. OK I Googled it and here's the text:

Death is nothing at all
I have only slipped away into the next room
I am I and you are you
whatever we were to each other
that we still are
call me by my old familiar name
speak to me in the easy way
which you always used
put no difference in your tone
wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow
laugh as we always laughed
at the little jokes we enjoyed together
pray smile, think of me, pray for me
Let my name be ever the household word
that it always was
Let it be spoken without effort
without the trace of a shadow in it
Life means all that it ever meant
it is the same as it ever was
there is unbroken continuity
why should I be out of mind
because I am out of sight?
I am waiting for you
somewhere very near
just around the corner
All is well

Henry Scott Holland
(1847-1918) Canon of St Paul's Cathedral

On a Date with Miss Universe

The famous night out.

More Photos, More Memories

People continue to send their photos of Bryan. I post most of them onto The Bryan Tree (link at right).

It's funny that The Bryan Tree was started by Alex and Andrew to create a Christmas tree of photos but I see the name as representing the branching out of friends and family from a common trunk that it has become.