I think we do a lot to welcome a new being into this world, but we haven't yet learned how to say goodbye to the one who, inevitably, leaves. We will all leave at the right time, but we don't know how to face such a natural process as dying, and for now, I don't think I can accept it.

We celebrate your many years, irrefutable proof that you have lived fully, facing both moments of joy and pain. Life is a continuous flow, like the waves of the sea that rise and fall, bringing us unexpected gifts and sometimes snatching away beloved treasures.

It is natural to feel sadness at the departure of a family member, a friend, a classmate, a neighbour: because true love always leaves its mark on our hearts. But remember that every ending is also a new beginning, a necessary transformation in the cycle of existence.

Just as we learn to enjoy the good moments ‘a meal shared with friends, the warmth of the sun on our skin, or the spontaneous laughter of a child’; we must also prepare ourselves for the final journey, the one we will all eventually undertake. Not as something macabre, but as a natural part of our human condition.

Your wisdom, forged over the years, allows you to understand that death is not the opposite of life, but its complement. That each farewell teaches us to value encounters more, and that the most precious legacy we leave behind is not material things, but the love we share and the seeds of good we sow in other hearts.

Today we celebrate your life, we remember fondly those who are no longer physically here, but are still alive in our hearts, and we honour the eternal cycle of existence. Let us continue to live fully, with gratitude for what we have experienced and hope for the future, knowing that each day is a precious gift. This from someone who has suffered losses in which I had to be the first to leave.