Day Is Ended, Dim My Eyes.

[dodger_sister]

Grandpa's memorial service was today. It all went really well. Everything looked good and the photo tribute and video came out really nice. My eldest cousin got up and read a poem that she and her boys wrote about 'living in the boondocks', after my grandpa had told them that the farm was out in the 'boondocks' and they didn't know what that word meant. It pretty much showcased every feeling I have about The Farm and the way I feel about my childhood time spent there and to make matters worse, my cousin started crying before she even got through the explanation of what she was about to read - so yeah, everybody was crying by the end of that. I had to miss the graveside service, which meant I missed the military honors, for which I was sad, but it was 10 degrees below zero out and there was a foot and a half of snow and neither of those things are good for my health. So I stayed behind and watched everyone's children for them. It really was such a nice service though (and I'm not one to usually notice that kind of thing even) and my sister and my cousin did such an amazing job getting everything together. It was beyond stressful pulling it out like this, they did so much work, but I am at least glad they let me help a little, let me take a few things off their plates. At any rate, it all came out well. And this certainly won't be the last time I post about Grandpa here, as I have some stories I want to share, but I'm exhausted at the moment, so I thought for now I'd just share a poem. It's Bilbo Last Song, before going over the sea, and I think it is fitting for my grandpa, the Navy man.


Bilbo's Last Song - JRR Tolkien

Day is ended, dim my eyes,
but journey long before me lies.
Farewell, friends! I hear the call.
The ship's beside the stony wall.
Foam is white and waves are grey;
beyond the sunset leads my way.
Foam is salt, the wind is free;
I hear the rising of the Sea.

Farewell, friends! The sails are set,
the wind is east, the moorings fret.
Shadows long before me lie,
beneath the ever-bending sky,
but islands lie behind the Sun
that I shall raise ere all is done;
lands there are to west of West,
where night is quiet and sleep is rest.

Guided by the Lonely Star,
beyond the utmost harbour-bar,
I'll find the havens fair and free,
and beaches of the Starlit Sea.
Ship, my ship! I seek the West,
and fields and mountains ever blest.
Farewell to Middle-earth at last.
I see the Star above my mast!


Rest in peace, Grandpa. I'll miss you every single day, until we meet again, in the West.