I was there at the fall of Byzantium.         By E. Michael. Bablin

I was there at the fall of Byzantium.         By E. Michael. Bablin

I was there at the fall of Byzantium. It was the great House—the only home I knew—and I grew up in it. I remember the kittens in the yard, the beautiful spring days gathering, dandelions, and violet flowers, Sunday dinners, and Grandpa and Grandma coming over, speaking in an ancient tongue—Lithuanian. But now, the Barbarians are at the gate. The great gates have been breached. The gates that I thought would never collapse finally collapsed.

I was there at the fall of Byzantium. That excellent House is on top of the hill at the corner of Clisby and Ellsworth. So big it had two addresses. Surrounded by an ancient stone wall. We used to play out with our Tonka trucks on. A stone wall was built long before our grandparents were born. That grand inner palace that we all grew up in. The yard to play hide and seek. The yard for the football field. The yard for the baseball diamond. The driveway with the basketball court. The frozen pond for the ice hockey.

 I was there at the fall of Byzantium. In all its glory, Glory time. The parents were young, healthy, and vibrant. I remember some summer sunshine and drinking iced tea. And planting flowers. And the vegetable garden, polishing the boat to take it to Sacandaga Lake. Or take the camper camping in the summertime, or the great big station wagon we’d all pile in on, and we would go somewhere exciting and new. But we always knew that we would come back to the grand home all the time. The Great House we called Byzantium.

I was there at the fall of Byzantium, where one by one, each brother and sister would graduate from school and move away. Sadly, they drove away, but they weren’t sorry or happy. And one by one, each element of Byzantium became smaller and smaller. The empire that we knew shrunk slowly and slowly through the years. I remember when my time came. We played with a band in the garage with my college buddies. Back then, I didn’t think of Byzantium falling; I simply thought of going and doing great things in the world. But I had to go. We all had to go like the brothers and sisters before and after me.

I was there at the fall of Byzantium. We thought it would never fall. But the old Emperor died on his way home. He was going to the Queen Mary in Long Beach, CA. Just one more trip, just one more adventure. The day he died, he said. I have all the time in the world. He had just bought a new car. And it was Memorial Day. A day to always memorialize. The old Emperor died on Memorial Day in the driveway of his Byzantium. And we were all sad. And we were all shocked. And still, it was a bright, sunny day. And now we feel happy. The Emperor has gone to a better place.

I was there at the fall of Byzantium for the last two years when the Empress lived alone. Slowly, the aged Empress would go from room to room. In every bedroom, corner, and mantelpiece, she would set up pictures of her children and grandchildren and candles on every dresser table. She created the whole House into one shrine. In every room, one after the other until the whole of Byzantium became an entire house shrine with candles, pictures, and household gods on every corner of every room.

I was there at the fall of Byzantium.

I was there at the fall of Byzantium.

I was there at the fall of Byzantium, and the driveway was gone. The apple tree where we picked apples was gone. The bean patch was where we grew vegetables and saw ballerinas. Was gone. The small bikes in the yard were gone. The newspaper route. Was gone. The elementary school was gone. The wood-burning stove was gone. The Elm trees were gone. Everything that we did growing up was gone until finally. The new people came to close on the House. And with the signing of a piece of paper. Was gone.

Do you have a Byzantium, too? Has yours gone yet, or is it still there? Trust me when I say it will be gone one day, and everything you grew up and knew as a child will be gone. 1 Corinthians 13:11 As a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. And you will. You will have no choice in this matter because whether you like it or not, Byzantium will fall. You just have to be strong. , because in the end, it was just a house. It was just property.

I was there at the fall of Byzantium.

I was there at the fall of Byzantium.

I was there at the fall of Byzantium.

I was there at the fall of Byzantium.

I was there at the fall of Byzantium.        Amen.