I am very lucky to have such an amazing family ~ I have been fortunate enough to have 3 sets of loving, supportive and very special grandparents. Nothing can compare to the love of grandparents. It has been a year since I have lost my 2 grandfathers, they passed away within 3 weeks of each other which was a sad time for 2 sides of my family! There is not a day that goes by that I don't think of all of my grandparents and even though some have left my world they are always in my heart!
My grandpa was a special man. He was always so supportive and loving. I can still hear his voice, his hello Sarah, whenever I rang to say hello and can feel his big warm bear hugs! He was a very talented man, a gifted artist and a wise poet. He publish several poetry books writing about life, love and the land. Some were serious...some were not. He wrote a poem called "Grandma's Castor oil" This was printed on a tea towel and hung on the back of the toilet. As kids he used to tell us he would give us $5 if we could recite the poem to him. I could never remember it. Until the day of his funeral. I was sitting with my family after and telling the story when I just said the first line, and each line followed, I don't know where it was coming from but I sat there and just said the whole poem like I had known it for years. I now know that he is always with me proving to me that I can do anything.
When he passed away I received some drawings of his and some poems. This is my favourite poem. He wrote it for my grandma. The last line is very special to me. It is now my favourite quote and we used it in our wedding. This poem is so divine and reminds me that true love can last forever.
...
How can I compare the softness of a waxing moon, or the twinkling of the stars
to the beauty that my eyes behold and my heart does beat for,
How could I ever find the footsteps of life
in which to place my feet if you are not beside me
You are to me the spring of life that displaces winters chill
You are the vision of a rose whose beauty is the quality of love
that steeps my heart and fills to overflowing my soul
As the crevassed mountain side echoes the sigh of the wind
so to you thunder your thought into my receptive mind
You gather me unto yourself
Your breast a pillow for my head
Your hidden vally’s of delight my joy
Almost a life away, there grew within my heart a tree and flourish and bore blossoms
In the blossoms you did build your nest so for evermore
You be within my heart
The beauty of your inner soul reflects upon your face
They joy of your contentment
Your body a vessel of delight
Your voice the whisper of a friendly breeze
Your fingers the caressing instruments of long lost gods
I gather the warmth of a thousand fires from your nearness
You are as close to me as the clinging bark of a tree
And as the bark shelters the tree so you shelter me
Should this sun never ever shed its warmth again upon the hills
And rivers falter on their journey to the sea
If the moon as a broken pendulum, never again to make love unto the earth
I would feel your presence, hold your hand and carry you through the gates of eternity
For if love be all, then you are love, for you are all to me.
John Bird
~ Entered eternal life 2009 ~ In our hearts forever ~