OFT IN THE STILLY NIGHT

                 

               From Thomas Moore’s 0FT IN THE STILLY NIGHT:

             

                                                      Oft in the stilly night,

                                                      Ere Slumber’s chain has bound me,

                                                      Fond memory brings light

                                                      Of other days around me

                                                      The smiles, the tears

                                                      The words of love then spoken,

                                                      The eyes that shone

                                                      Now dimmed and gone.

I recently came across this quote from Moore’s poem. It pricked my heart and awakened sleeping 

tears.  My memories of Paul went back far—50+ years when we were financially challenged graduate students. We sat for hours over one cup of coffee in the Penn State Diner. 

His smiles were captivating; his big brown eyes melted my heart.  Fifty years later after leukemia struck those smiles had become less frequent; those eyes were less bright.  But oft in the stilly night—memories of them flood my mind.