my grandfather wasn't very happy, yesterday, about my eyebrow piercing. then again, he said, he once saw a boy in london with a safety pin in his cheek, and i might have done worse. he thought that i would turn out fine.
grandpa met joe for the first time. he wished that we would make it legal, but he'd known people who stayed together without marriage and were happy.
he sang:
Fare thee well, for I must leave thee,he shook hands with joe and hoped that he would be a part of our family. he said he didn't believe that men shouldn't cry, and he cried.
Do not let the parting grieve thee,
And remember that the best of friends
must part, must part.
Adieu, adieu, kind friends adieu,
Adieu, adieu
I can no longer stay with you,
I'll hang my harp
On a weeping willow tree,
And may the world go well with thee.
on the drive back to her condominium, my grandmother mentioned a passing YIELD sign. it reminded her of tennyson: to strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.
maybe two years ago, i wrote grandpa a letter that explained how he was my favorite relative; he reminded me of it when i saw him at the hospital. i don't consider memory often, but i'm beginning to understand its value.
Though much is taken, much abides; and though
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are -
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.
(tennyson, "ulysses", 1842)
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