I remember the time when we went forth arm in arm over the newly mown
fields, scaring the grasshoppers from our pathway, with our baskets on
our arms, to gather the blueberries that hung in clusters on their
slender stalks. But thou art gone now to the fairer fields of
paradise, to pluck sweeter fruit than ever ripened here. Thou art
gone! The blueberry bushes have fallen long ago before the scythe; the
field has changed its appearance; and as for me, the breezes woo me
forth in vain--I cannot go. Sickness and sorrow have come between me
and the love of earth; they have cast a dark shadow over what I once
thought fair. But as there can be no shadow without a light beyond it
I have caught bright glimpses of a better home--a land of life and
glory.