And now...a song

Unexpected Family: For Rae Boxill (1936-2018)

We left behind the land we knew

The ones we loved, our history

We left behind the things familiar

to find a home across the sea

It wasn't supposed to be forever

A year or two, or maybe three

But we made a couple choices

And two years became forty

We made some friends who saw us through

Life's big milestones

Heart break, new love, commencements

And kids who now have grown

A community created 

Through shared humanity

And somewhere along the way

Those friends became family

It doesn't mean we never questioned

If the choice to stay was right

There are events that you don't realize

Will require all your fight

But we couldn't seem to give up

On our adopted land

Because at least we had those people

Who were there to take our hand

And stand with us those times when we

Felt like the world would break

They helped us through the hurdles

And made us roti and poundcake

A community created 

Through shared humanity

And somewhere along the way

Those friends became family

We couldn't have imagined

Those forty years ago

We'd make a life so far away

From everything we'd ever known

We were headstrong and curious

Finding the paths to help us grow

And that journey's brought us here

Honoring a life lived with gusto

Surrounded by the people

We've gathered through the years

Colleagues, and old friends, and students

Who came to us with all their fears

A community created 

Through shared humanity

And somewhere along the way

Those friends became family

We thought we'd have more time enjoying

Indian summer days

But the life that began under coconut trees

Ends beneath a redwood by the Bay