Melissa's Place

Fred

My mom’s dear friend Fred passed away a few days ago.
The memories that will come to my mind when I think of Fred are:

* his passion for playing the violin and exchanging cassettes of his violin playing with a man who lived in Florida and who also enjoyed sharing his violin playing
* how he’d do mechanical work on our car in exchange for Mom spending the afternoon accompanying him with her piano playing while he played violin
* how he loved to make sweet dandelion wine
* the enormous Czech meals he’d share so jubilantly
* that he let my brother drive his BMW

Here is a poem that I’d like to dedicate to Fred and the friends and family who will miss him.

SOME TIME AT EVE (by Elizabeth Clark Hardy)

Some time at eve when the tide is low,
I shall slip my mooring and sail away,
With no response to the friendly hail
Of kindred craft in the busy bay.
In the silent hush of the twilight place,
When the night stoops down to embrace the day,
And the voices call in the waters’ flow –
Some time at eve when the tide is low,
I shall slip my mooring and sail away.

Through the purpling shadows that darkly trail
O’er the ebbing tide of the Unknown Sea,
I shall fare me away, with a dip of sail
And a ripple of waters to tell the tale
Of a lonely voyager, sailing away
To the Mystic Isles where at anchor lay
The crafts of those who have sailed before
O’er the Unknown Sea to the Unseen Shore.

A few who have watched me sail away
Will miss my craft from the busy bay;
Some friendly barks that were anchored near,
Some loving souls that my heart held dear,
In silent sorrow will drop a tear –

But I shall have peacefully furled my sail
In moorings sheltered from storm or gale,
And greeted the friends who have sailed before
O’er the Unknown Sea to the Unseen Shore.