When you live long enough...

...you start to lose those you have known for decades. Yet another brother-in-law died recently, this one was world-renowned - famous, even, with many ex-wives, plenty of children and Krugerrands piled up like cordwood. His third ex-wife's father was a famous sculptor who left an estate worth an estimated 600 million dollars. Bigly famous, indeed.

Since this is poetry corner over here, I will include a poem that was used in his eulogy:

Dis altyd jy, net altyd jy,
die een gedagte bly my by
soos skadu's onder bome bly,
net altyd jy, net altyd jy.

Langs baie weë gaan my smart,
blind is my oë en verward,
is alle dinge in my hart.

Maar dit sal een en enkeld bly,
en aards en diep sy laafnis kry,
al staan dit winter, kaal in my,
die liefde in my, die liefde in my.

That is Afrikaans, and I am not the guy to translate it.

He was a book collector, specifically poetry books, and the bulk of his poetry collection, something like 60,000 volumes, was left to Emory University. What can I say - he traveled a long, at times rocky road, from the Bronx to Capetown. He enjoyed life, was endlessly fascinating to talk to and he will be missed by those of us who knew him.

Godspeed, Raymond, I am a better person for having known you.

This really doesn't directly relate, but there you go.