As a young man he descended upon this land,
From a faraway world,
Looking for adventure and a better life,
What this young lad found,
Was the American dream,
he arrived on a boat or a plane,
The mode of transit is unclear to me,
To the big city on the sea,
Looking to start a new,
This world, this land,
Entangled his heart,
He wanted to touch the four corners,
Breath the air of freedom into his lungs,
Like many before and many after,
He had left his family and friends abroad,
He settled in the small village of the Bronx,
And tirelessly began to build a cornerstone,
To his new life,
He recruited gainful employment,
As a dedicated, hardworking tailor,
Many a rough road were left unpaved ahead,
He knew this,
But he a strong man would endure.
His life full of unexplored adventures,
Still felt empty though,
That was until the day she presented herself,
He knew from the start she was his love,
His air to breath,
His rod and staff,
His soul mate,
She knew the same about him,
But like most before and most after,
She played the game of hard to get,
But like his pervious challenges he did not faultier,
But endured, not quitting,
He would never quit,
It was in his blood,
She finally folded her hand one day,
And they both knew forever had began,
They where married a short time later,
To begin a family,
That was their wishes,
To endure the trials and tribulations,
And to love ever waking moment.
She birthed 3 in their attempts,
A daughter and two sons,
They raised them with the utmost love,
No two before or after where better parents,
They would walk beside them,
Carry them if they could not walk,
Hold them if they needed comforting,
And love them deeply for eternity,
They watched their infants turn into toddlers,
And they smiled with their first step,
And then onto children,
And they smiled with their first word,
Onto teens they went with parents in tow now,
And they smiled with their first kiss,
And right into adulthood,
And they smiled knowing they had done well,
They saw a little of each of them in their grown children,
A culmination of their sprits,
Eternally locked in their children.
They of course had the empty nest syndrome,
As their babies flew the cope,
Onto carry the legend of love,
Which was handed to them by their parents,
They walked beside as their first was wed,
It was the same with their second and third,
Pride and joy overflowed them,
Knowing the feeling of true love,
From there they watched not from the sidelines,
But from the game,
As their offspring started a new generation of love,
Each were blessed with two,
Which make six grandchildren,
They were blessed with the lesson learned,
And love taught, by the generations before,
Once more you could see the pride and joy overflow them,
Treated no different then their own children,
They heard the first words,
They watched the first steps,
They stood by and held the walls up,
As they started to crumble,
Never letting them be buried.
Back to our young lad,
Now as old age strikes him,
As it will all of us,
he reflects as we do here,
The heart aches and troubles long forgotten,
The love and happiness is all that remains,
For he lived life,
Not letting it live him,
He enjoyed it, embraced it,
Held it close to his and to ours,
We are all blesses to have his light shine on us,
Blessed to have known a great man,
A great husband,
A great father,
A great grandfather,
And a great friend,
My only wish is that I can be half of what he is,
As the rest of us should.