Poem: Remembering My Aunt Jim

·For James Swords (Aunt Jim) 1987-2006

He taught history and knew every date,

A brilliant, kind soul, and a lover of fate.

A Social Studies teacher who stood tall and refined,

With the biggest and best collection of its kind.

His life was a study of Scarlett O'Hara's bold will,

With Margaret Mitchell and Tara kept still.

The movie, the scripts, the rare editions he owned,

A professional passion he beautifully enthroned.

He was Mother's best friend, her laughter and guide,

And to our little unit, he was never denied.

We became his true kin, the family he chose,

A love that grew deeper than any blood knows.

He searched for his mother, the hope in his eyes

But only met silence beneath the vast skies.

He found the location, the name, and the year.

A beautiful ghost who was no longer here.

Then the sugar turned bitter, the body grew strained,

The gift of his light was steadily drained.

His heart and his pancreas faltered and failed,

And diabetes took him, too deeply assailed.

We stood at the bedside, the machines kept the time

A tragedy written in silence and rhyme.

We knew the hard choice, the mercy and grace

And leaned close to look at his gentle, dear face.

"Adieu, sweet prince," we whispered, the phrase

We used it for the one who had brightened our days.

The one who did Elvis and loved Connie Francis's song,

The uncle we had chosen was where we both belonged.

We closed the last chapter, the promise we kept,

We could never forget him, the time that we spent

A true guiding light, a family that chose

Our irreplaceable, sweet Aunt Jim knows.

Learn more about my Jim at Connie Francis Internet

By AnneHendricks, M.Ed. Revelry and Reflections

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