Den tomme stol ~ The Empty Chair

Kaffe i haven, 20. oktober 2012   ::   Coffee in the garden October 20, 2012

     Vi har drukket formiddagskaffe i haven mange gange siden det billede blev taget - og det vil vi forhåbentligt også gøre mange gange fremover. Det er der ikke noget sært i. Det gør vi, når vi er hjemme, og vejret er til det. Men næste gang vi drikker kaffe i haven, vil noget være anderledes. Der vil være en tom stol for enden af bordet. Hvalrossen, Ugleungernes farfar, døde i onsdags.
     Han har boet hos os i 21 år. Længere end den mindste Ugleunge har levet, og nok længere end de næste tre kan huske tilbage. Så for de fire mindste Ugleunger har Farfar altid været der til at spille skak med, til at hjælpe med tysk og andre sprog, til at få en snak med og til at spise is og kager sammen med.
    Han var meget syg til sidst, så jeg er ikke ked af at han er død. Men jeg kommer til at savne ham. Han var intelligent og lynende klar i hovedet. Han var altid den første til at fatte og smile over mine kringlede, sproglige vittigheder. Jeg kommer til at savne én at spørge til råds om underlige tyske ord, indoeuropæiske lydforskydninger og fonetiske problemer. Og så delte vi den samme, dårlige musiksmag og citerede schlagere fra "dengang han levede". 

We have had coffee in the garden innumerable times since the topmost photo was taken, and I hope that  we will do so innumerable times in the years to come as well. But next time, and all the times after that, something will not be as it used to.
The chair at the end of the table (second photo) will be empty.
The Walrus, the paternal grandfather of the Owlets, passed away this Wednesday.
Honestly, I can't say I'm sorry. He was old, weak, tired of living, he passed gently and is now at peace. But we're going to miss him. He lived with us for a bit more than 21 years, the youngest Owlet was not born yet as he moved in, and I suspect that none of the four youngest Owlet remember him not living with us. He's always been there, for a game of chess, for help with homework in German and French, for a talk, for ice and cakes.
We're going to miss him something terrible. He always understood my crazy jokes, my wildly associative ideas, he answered my questions on phonetics and language development without making me feel like the noob I probably was compared to him. And we shared the same bad taste -- an affinity for corny songs, for old tunes and schlagers from when he was young.

--  -- 🎨 --  --

Totally as a stroke of luck, this chair could be said to look

the colour of the month for October.