#36

For those who don't know me well, I am a product of very strong Irish roots. My grandfather, Everard Flude Grindley (Noah's middle namesake. His photo is posted below), immigrated from Ireland in the early 1900s. He was born in Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland in 1899 and was the only child out of 6 to depart his homeland. Papa Eddie instilled a deep appreciation for his Irish heritage in his children; the youngest of which is my mom.

I was very fortunate to grow up traveling to Ireland every few years to visit my family members still living there. At some point along the way, I developed a love for William Butler Yeats' collection of poetry. We visited his grave many times and I intend to visit it again when Dan and I travel there together (we are planning a trip there this fall - he's never been).

His writings provoke a yearning in the depths of my heart that I cannot describe... I read his poems over and over again trying to understand the emptiness yet complete overwhelming devotion towards his beloved Maud Gonne that anguished him till the end of his life. His is a story of total unrequited love but his steadfast commitment to her never wavered. And because of that commitment, we have the most beautiful collection of poetry known to man (my opinion only).

Written in 1899 and published in "The Wind Among the Reeds," #36. "Aedh wishes for the Cloths of Heaven" is my favorite Yeats poem. I whisper it to my Noah many nights when I am rocking him to sleep:

Had I the heavens’ embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams

How beautiful is that? To be handed someone's dreams because that is all they have to give... that is romance in its truest and most vulnerable form.

Sweet dreams.