A Sad Note

One of my favorite people passed away last week, my uncle Jim. His funeral was today. An unexpected battle with cancer took him from his loved ones much too soon. He was only 64. Jim was my mom's youngest brother. He had the biggest, kindest, and most gentle heart. He loved his family, he loved nature, he loved music....we all loved him. He is and will be missed.

At his funeral today they played one of his favorite Bill Staines songs....funny thing is, it's one of my favorite Bill Staines songs too. It's "River".

River by Bill Staines

I was born in the path of the winter wind,

I was raised where the mountains are old.

Their springtime waters came dancing down,

And I remember the tales they told.

The whistling ways of my younger days

Too quickly have faded on by,

But all of their memories linger on

Like the light in a fading sky.

Chorus: River, take me along

In your sunshine, sing me a song.

Ever moving, and winding and free;

You rolling old river, you changing old river,

Let's you and me, river, run down to the sea.

I've been to the city and back again,

I've been moved by some things that I've learned;

Met a lot of good people and I've called them friends

Felt the change when the seasons turned.

I've heard all the songs that the children sing,

And listened to love's melodies;

I've felt my own music within me rise

Like the wind in the autumn trees.

Chorus

Someday when the flowers are blooming still

Someday when the grass is still green

My rolling waters will round the bend

And flow into the open sea.

So here's to the rainbow that's followed me here,

And here's to the friends that I know;

And here's to the song that's within me now

I will sing it where'er I go.

River, take me along
In your sunshine, sing me a song.
Ever moving, and winding and free;
You rolling old river, you changing old river,
Let's you and me, river, run down to the sea.