Grandad George Brown

My Grandad George died in the early hours of this morning, he was 95 and had been ill for some time, but especially this last couple of weeks. He had been so independent for so long that it seemed almost impossible that he should not be able to get up out of bed and needed so much help. My Mum has been amazing and I'm looking forward to seeing her tomorrow. I have so many army pictures of him but wanted to include this one since it is fun and how I remember him when I was a child. The poem is by Brian Patten and although a lot of his friends and my Grandma went before he did, people loved and connected with him for all of his life and will carry that with them. An extraordinary life.

So many different lengths of time by Brian Patten
How long does a man live after all?
A thousand days or only one?
One week or a few centuries?
How long does a man spend living or dying
and what do we mean when we say gone forever?

Adrift in such preoccupations, we seek clarification.
We can go to the philosophers
but they will weary of our questions.
We can go to the priests and rabbis
but they might be busy with administrations.

So, how long does a man live after all?
And how much does he live while he lives?
We fret and ask so many questions -
then when it comes to us
the answer is so simple after all.

A man lives for as long as we carry him inside us,
for as long as we carry the harvest of his dreams,
for as long as we ourselves live,
holding memories in common, a man lives.

His lover will carry his man's scent, his touch:
his children will carry the weight of his love.
One friend will carry his arguments,
another will hum his favourite tunes,
another will still share his terrors.

And the days will pass with baffled faces,
then the weeks, then the months,
then there will be a day when no question is asked,
and the knots of grief will loosen in the stomach
and the puffed faces will calm.
And on that day he will not have ceased
but will have ceased to be separated by death.

How long does a man live after all?
A man lives so many different lengths of time.