"'When Tomorrow Starts Without Me'" by David Romano

This morning while finishing the book, "Proof of Heaven" By Eben Alexander, M.D., I read the following poem for the first time. As I lay in the tub, I thought of a friend who needed to hear this today. The day goes on and I forget. Coincidentally, this Facebook friend, who recently lost her father, posted a shortened version hours later. Wanting to find the long version to share (cut and paste) with her, off to Google, of course. Every result, the punctuation and line spacing had been slaughtered and reset to read like a sing-song sonnet. Some words had even been replaced or wrong altogether!

Here I submit "When Tomorrow Starts Without Me" by David Romano in its original perfect form. Enjoy.

Dedicated to my friend Elizabeth.

When Tomorrow Starts Without Me

By David Romano 

(copyrighted 1993) 

When tomorrow starts without me, 

And I'm not there to see,

If the sun should rise and find your eyes 

All filled with tears for me;

I wish so much you wouldn't cry 

The way you did today,

While thinking of the many things, 

We didn't get to say.

I know how much you love me,

As much as I love you,

And each time that you think of me,

I know you'll miss me too;

But when tomorrow starts without me, 

Please try to understand,

That an angel came and called my name, 

And took me by the hand,

And said my place was ready, 

In heaven far above

And that I'd have to leave behind

All those I dearly love.

But as I turned to walk away,

A tear fell from my eye

For all my life, I'd always thought, 

I didn't want to die.

I had so much to live for,

So much yet to do,

It seemed almost impossible,

That I was leaving you.

I thought of all the yesterdays,

The good ones and the bad,

I thought of all the love we shared,

And all the fun we had.

If I could relive yesterday 

Just even for awhile,

I'd say goodbye and kiss you 

And maybe see you smile.

But then I fully realized 

That this could never be,

For emptiness and memories, 

Would take the place of me.

And when I thought of worldly things 

I might miss come tomorrow,

I thought of you, and when I did

My heart was filled with sorrow.

But when I walked through heaven's gates 

I felt so much at home

When God looked down and smiled at me, 

From His great golden throne,

He said, "This is eternity, 

And all I've promised you.

Today your life on earth is past

But here it all starts anew.

I promise no tomorrow,

But today will always last;

And since each day's the same way,

There's no longing for the past.

You have been so faithful,

So trusting and so true.

Though there were times

You did some things

You knew you shouldn't do.

But you have been forgiven 

And now at last you're free.

So won't you come and take my hand

And share my life with me?"

So when tomorrow starts without me,

Don't think we're far apart,

For every time you think of me,

I'm right here, in your heart.