Share this pageSoft Tears were Falling When June Passed Away!
- Details
- Published on Wednesday, 12 February 2014 05:40
- Written by Stanton O. Berg
"SOFT TEARS WERE FALLING WHEN JUNE PASSED AWAY!"
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(Stan's Revision of Ray Price's hit song of 1963 "Soft Rain was falling")
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Soft Tears Were Falling When June Passed Away
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Soft tears were falling when June passed away.
Gray clouds and sadness were filling my heart.
June my love born of heaven had slowly died...
and soft tears were falling as the Angels all cried.
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The tears started falling when June passed away,
Gray clouds and sadness were filling my heart.
The sky that was bright blue turned slowly to gray...
and the Angels cried with me as June passed away.
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If love can be perfect then ours must have been...
The Angels whispered softly, June a true love just died...
and the soft tears were falling as the Angels all cried...
and the soft tears were falling as the Angels all cried.
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(I am sure that the angel's tears all turned to sounds and songs of joy as they welcomed and ushered June through heaven's gates on that early Thursday morning in October 2008.)
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A Summary of June and Our Life Together
June and I were both products of poor farm families, and raised during the "great depression" years...June and I became the last of the old fashioned "traditional families" in which June was in charge of the home (homemaker) and I was in charge of income production. June and I had a joint discretionary checking account. We jointly planned vacations and family activities...we were also the first in the history of our own two families to offer a college education (tuition paid) to those of our children who desired to better their own education.
In looking back at our life, June clearly had the toughest challenges as the "lady in charge of the home"...I remember a former neighbor and friend of June's telling me in later years, how much she admired June...how well organized June was and how this lady wished she could be more like June. June not only ran the home including the housekeeping, laundry, meals, being a mother, a grandmother and a wife. June was also a very active force in our Redeemer Lutheran church where she pulled a very heavy oar.
June always managed to look fresh, sharp and beautiful. During the times and days of our early limited income, June made many of the children's clothes as well as some of her own clothing on her own sewing machine in order to assist with our then very tight family economy. June also served as the family barber and cut the children’s hair...June was so proficient as a barber that she frequently received requests to cut some of the neighborhood children's hair. I really do not know how she did it all.
June was noted for her smile...when June smiled even her eyes smiled and if one listened carefully, one might even hear the angels sing.
After our child raising years came to an end, (June and Stan have four children and 22 grandchildren) I took an early retirement from my administrative job with a large insurance company (State Farm) after 32 Years and then plunged full energy into a second career of forensic science consulting. This was a throwback to my army service days at the Counter Intelligence Corps. Center and the nearby Baltimore Police Department's Identification Division.
It was after another 20 years and at the age 77, as Alzheimer's took over our life, I retired a second time to devote full time to June's care... There-after, I lost June slowly, tear drop by tear drop during her long and exhausting journey into the shadows of Alzheimer’s...a journey that lasted for almost 12 years...as June slowly disappeared into a world that I could no longer reach.
Before June's Alzheimer's diagnosis, our world and her character and personality were represented by a vast sea of bright and beautiful lights. After her Alzheimer's diagnosis, these bright lights all begin to slowly dim. As June slowly slipped deeper into the shadows of Alzheimer's, the lights gradually flickered out one by one. Eventually the time came during the last two years of her life, when the brightness that marked our world and June’s life was replaced by one of darkness.
June's passing was as if a most beautiful symphony that had played during our life together, now became silent!
I was so richly blessed by having June and her unconditional love in my life for 56 years regardless of the final cruel impact of Alzheimer's!...I owe June and God and unending debt...
I have often described June and my life together as a "Divine appointment"...I think it was clearly more then a simple blessing...while I have also described it as "winning the lottery of life!"...it was God that handed us the winning tickets...thanks God!
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Ray Price's Death
Ray Price the country western legend with 100 hits songs and a friend of Hank Williams, died on Monday December 16th 2013 at age 87 of pancreatic cancer…
Ray Price’s wife, Janie Price, relayed what she called her husband's "final message" to his fans:
"I love my fans and have devoted my life to reaching out to them. I appreciate their support all these years, and I hope I haven't let them down. I am at peace. I love Jesus. I'm going to be just fine. Don't worry about me. I'll see you again one day."
Ray Price’s 1965 hit song “Soft Rain Was Falling..." became the focal point of this page on June’s web site...
I have completely revised and re-wrote his original hit song (story of a broken love affair) into the above poem about June and her passing…all centered around the key line..."Soft rain was falling..."
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Reader's Comments
Connie Lowers O'Brien - Birchwood, Tennessee - (12 February 2014): "Beautiful!"
Lin Schmidt - Anoka, Minnesota - (12 February 2014): "Beautiful, Stan"
Nancy K. Rogers - (12 February 2014): "My dad passed away from Alzheimer's in April of 1978. I won't go into detail but from heaven above he gave me the gift of poetry. Bless you and your sweetheart June."
Rihhana Bawan - Srinagar, Kashmir, India - (13 February 2014): "I haven't seen love truer than yours!"
John Stevens - Twin Falls, Idaho - (13 February 2014): "It is a very good write...I read it again and this time a melody ran through my mind as I read. It sounded beautiful. The angels are now rejoicing for another one made it home and brought many others with her and many more to come later. You have done good Stan. Really good...When my father in law passed, he opened his eyes and said, "I see the angels coming." That was the end of here and the beginning of Heaven...(9 June 2014): "It is just as beautiful another time around. Rather like love. It just keeps getting better and better. Thanks again Stan."
Sylvia Sharon Ferguson Helton - Rogersville, Missouri - (13 February 2014): "Stanton, I read your poem..then I read your and June's journey on a ROUGH road to the new Beginning...now she waits for you...and soon you will meet...though it may seem like a very long time...in GOD's time...you WILL meet again...sending Big Sisterly hug..."
Connie Lowers O'Brien - Birchwood, Tennessee - (8 June 2014): "love reading and sharing your stories you two had a beautiful and blessed marriage !!..."People really need to read Stanton O. Bergs Facebook and website about June a true testament about love and Christianity!!!"
Carol Man Utd Bevin - (Manchester, United Kingdom - (9 June 2014):"Soft Tears were falling because the Angels all cried....How gorgeous are them words ."
Nancy Carrillo - New Bedford, Massachusetts - (9 June 2014): "Wow beautiful Stan."
Patrice Kohn - McKinney, Texas - (9 June 2014): "What a lovely tribute to your beautiful Wife, June. Blessings to you Stan." - (20 February 2015):" I love how you so beautifully adapted Ray Price's song to such a poignant tribute to your love with June. Prayers to you Stan."
Susan Milo Maroulis - Charlotte, North Carolina - (20 February 2015):"Beautiful."
Joyce Toone - Bolton, United Kingdom- (21 February 2015): "So beautiful Stanton."
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June's Passing
After an almost 12 year journey into the shadows of Alzheimer's, early one morning in late October 2008, an exhausted June felt God's gentle touch on her shoulder and heard the words: "Come Home June!" As June lay like a wounded soldier on a battlefield, it was God's Angels that ushered June into a Heavenly Kingdom to the sound of a chorus of Angels...and into June's new home, a "Mansion on the Hilltop", where there is no pain, nor illness nor tears...June's funeral notice as published in the Minneapolis Star in October 2008 can be seen on this website in the drop down menu under the "In Memoriam" label - just Click on:
"June K. (Rolstad) Berg - In Memoriam"