Sunday morning,in some pain but rested

Good morning journal,the time is now 8:11am,I have been awake since 7:15am after a restful night.This morning my old friend back pain has put in an appearance once again,I awakened with the usual throbbing in my lower back which I know leads to red hot poker type pain on rising,as usual,it didn't let me down.At the moment,the pain is tolerable,with a few teeth clenching moments,and I can only hope that it will lessen during the course of today,but having experienced this level of pain before many times,I'm not holding my breath.When I get out of bed in the morning,this usually triggers a bout of coughing,which,as any sufferer of COPD knows,can be lengthy and painful at best,when my back is like it is now,well,let's just say it isn't a very pleasant experience.I also tend to hold my breath without actually realizing that I'm doing it until my wife tells me,not a good thing to do as it makes my already hard pressed lungs work even harder,so I try to be aware when I'm on my own as I am now.Anyway journal,what news I hear you ask?,well,three days ago on Thursday last,I went to my old friends funeral service,He passed away on May 1st,but because he died suddenly and unexpectedly at home,there was an autopsy required.It was determined that he had suffered a sudden and fatal myocardial infarction,and as he was at home by himself,it was unfortunately final.My friend had a heart as big as himself,and I found it cruelly ironic that that huge heart that had helped so many people in his lifetime had ultimately cost him his life.I was gladdened and uplifted when we entered the chapel for the service to find that it was standing room only,just another acknowledgement of the regard in which my friend was held,he was Scottish like me and we followed the casket in to the strains of bagpipes playing Amazing Grace,he would have enjoyed that,and after a beautiful service where so many of his friends and family gave glowing tributes to the man he was,we exited to the bagpipes playing Flower of Scotland,a fitting accolade and celebration of his life,rest in peace Jamie,you deserve it,I shall miss you for you were the kindest of souls.Last evening,my wife and I played some games,we haven't done that for some time,honors were even in the backgammon,while my wife edged me out narrowly in the fact or fiction board game we have,altogether,we had a very enjoyable couple of hours before I finally retired at around 1:00am,we really must do that more often,I had forgotten how pleasurable it is.Just before I leave,I'd like to share something that was read out at Jamie's funeral,it is among the most beautiful poems I have ever heard,and it brought home once again,how important my faith is to me and how important God is in my life,
 
Letter from Heaven
To my dearest family some things I'd like to say But first of all to let you know that I arrived today, I'm writing this from Heaven. Here I shall dwell with God above Here, there's no more tears of sadness. Here is just eternal love. Please do not be unhappy just because I'm out of sight Remember that I am with you every morning, noon and night. That day I had to leave you when my life on earth was through God picked me up and hugged me and He said "I welcome you, It's good to have you back again, you were missed while you were gone, As for your dearest family, they'll be here later on. I need you here badly, you are part of my plan There's so much that we have to do to help our mortal man." God gave me a list of things that he wished for me to do And foremost on the list was to watch and care for you And when you lie in bed at night, the days chores put to flight God and I are closest to you . . in the middle of the night. When you think of my life on earth and all those loving years Because you are only human, they are bound to bring you tears But do not be afraid to cry, it does relieve the pain Remember there would be no flowers, unless there was some rain. 1 wish that I could tell you all that God has planned If I were to tell you, you wouldn't understand But one thing is for certain though my life on earth is o'er I'm closer to you now than I ever was before. There are many rocky roads ahead of you and many hills to climb But together we can do it by taking one day at a time. When you're walking down the street and you've got me on your mind I'm walking in your footsteps, only half a step behind And when it's time for you to go . . from that body to be free Remember you're not going . . you're just coming here to me.
Well journal,that says it all for me,until next time,peace and the love of God dwell within us.