ginny said good bye this afternoon as far as i can tell she can t bear the good bye evenings or the morning afters of farewell she says here you are another one to whose back i m saying cheers it s like a death in the family and it s been going on for years and so i ll cast my leaving shadow and i ll be canadian but distance won t decide what matters to the hard rock s loving son and when i m thinking of st john s i ll bring her closer with a song i don t know where i m going but i know where i belong don t get the old man started or i ll have to hide him from the rum if we can keep his mind from 49 he ll keep having fun oh it s not the kids he s cursing though i m his third to leave he s mad at mr smallwood and it s a parent s right to grieve so let s take a moment s silence for our dear departed souls let s fly our flags at half their mast as another young man goes the laughter of the children supplanted by the rolling ghosts another tide surrenders to a far and foreign coast i told mom i d stay closer to the cousins who beat the path from our front door one right after the other and they won t be back no more but the thing i think i fear the most she whispered in my ear is being the last flower in the garden with no one left to care