Another year is ended, 
And still my skies are bright,
For hope and faith are blended,
And all will soon be right.
A song of praise is welling
From out my heart today,
Of the thousand blessings telling
That lie along the way.
Thanks be to God for giving
This life to me at all,
Though fraught with pain its living,
It is a ladder tall,
That leads from earth to heaven,
From birth to endless life;
So why should I be craven
And shrink from pain and strife?
The Holy City's glory,
By God's abundant grace, 
Shall be my only story,
Till there I find a place.
So ne'er again repining
For joys I may not share,
I will with face a-shining
Await my entrance there.

Mary Ingalls (Laura's blind sister)