Tribute

On the 18th December 2003, Samuel's Mum and Dad, family and friends gathered to celebrate his short but wonderful life. Below is the order of service from that day, along with the words Ian shared, and the poem read at the service.

Samuel Lewis Cuthbertson

(Oct 21st 2003 – Dec 12th 2003)
18th December, 2003

Order of Service

Samuel, with love.

Opening Prayer Reading: Tigger has Breakfast Hymn: Lord of all hopefulness

Lord of all hopefulness, Lord of all joy, Whose trust, ever child-like, no cares could destroy, Be there at our waking, and give us, we pray, Your bliss in our hearts, Lord, at the break of the day. Lord of all eagerness, Lord of all faith, Whose strong hands were skilled at the plane and the lathe, Be there at our labours, and give us, we pray, Your strength in our hearts, Lord, at the noon of the day. Lord of all kindliness, Lord of all grace, Your hands swift to welcome, your arms to embrace, Be there at our homing, and give us, we pray, Your love in our hearts, Lord, at the eve of the day. Lord of all gentleness, Lord of all calm, Whose voice is contentment, whose presence is balm, Be there at our sleeping, and give us, we pray, Your peace in our hearts, Lord, at the end of the day.

Tribute Reading: Mark 10:13-16 Sermon Prayers

The Lord's Prayer Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Poem: We do not need a special day Hymn: There's a friend for little children

There's a Friend for little children, Above the bright, blue sky, A Friend who never changes, Whose love will never die; Though earthly friends may fail us, And change thro' passing years, This Friend is always worthy Of that dear name He bears. There's a home for little children, Above the bright, blue sky, Where Jesus reigns in glory, A home of peace and joy; No home on earth is like it, Nor can with it compare, For every one is happy, Nor could be happier there. There's a song for little children, Above the bright, blue sky, A song that will not weary, Though sung continually; A song which even angels Can never, never sing, They know not Christ as Saviour, But worship him as King.

Committal

A reading of "Tigger has Breakfast", from A. A. Milne's The House at Pooh Corner, was shared during the service — Samuel's favourite toy was his Tigger. As that's still in copyright, we've kept the original order-of-service page as a PDF rather than reproduce it here: read the Tigger reading (PDF).

Ian's Words

Firstly I'd like to thank you all for attending today. The number of you here shows just how many peoples lives one little boy has touched.

When we first found out that Samuel was poorly and would not get better, we thought our lives had crashed in around us. We were told our little boy was to be taken away from us almost straight away, but Samuel had other ideas. He wanted to see something of the world and to get to know his parents, in order to do this he had to fight on, if only for a short while.

Helen and I consider ourselves to be incredibly lucky. By the strength of our son we have had the opportunity to do what parents do To Love him, to cuddle him, to feed and change him, to take him for walks, and if only for a short while to watch him grow

Although Samuel's time with us has been cut short, we still have these experiences to look back on and remember.

We will also never forget his infamous spikey hair, how much he enjoyed his baths and the surprised look on his face as we washed his hair.

Many people are far less lucky than this, so we consider ourselves to be fortunate. Samuel is a very special little boy and we feel privileged to have been part of his life

Samuel was also a very lucky little person. A good friend said to Helen just a few weeks ago, that if Love could make Samuel better, Samuel would have been fixed ten times over. Samuel was loved by so many people they are far too numerous to mention, but needless to say, the love of The parents and family The wonderful nurses and doctors who cared for him Our friends who have attended today The hundreds of people who have sent us messages and the thousands who have read his diary, would have fixed him 100 or 1000 times over if this had been possible.

If I was to read out the final entry in Samuel's diary, it would tell of the wonderful time Samuel had in those few short weeks. How he did not suffer, was not in pain, was constantly loved and cuddled and enjoyed everything babies do, experiencing new things and playing with their family.

If you find you are thinking of Samuel and feeling sad, ask yourself who you are sad for, Baby Samuel or those he left behind. If you are sad for Samuel think back just a few moments to the words in his diary and you will realise you don't need to be sad for him. If you are sad for those he left behind, including yourself, please remember you have the opportunity to make things better for these people, whether that be helping others or treating yourself, let Samuel's memory be your motivation.

We do not need a special day

We do not need a special day to bring you to our minds The days we do not think of you are very hard to find Each morning when we awake we know that you are gone. And no one knows the heartache as we try to carry on. Our hearts still ache with sadness and secret tears still flow. What it meant to lose you, no one will ever know. Our thoughts are always with you, your place no one can fill. In life we loved you dearly; in death we love you still There will always be a heartache, and often a silent tear. But always a precious memory of the days when you were here. If tears would make a staircase, and heartaches make a lane, We'd walk a path to heaven and bring you home again. We hold you close within our hearts; and there you will remain, To walk with us throughout our lives until we meet again. Our family chain is broken now, and nothing seems the same, But as God calls us one by one, the chain will link again.

Author unknown