CHORUS:
The radio would be tuned in every Saturday night
To hear the Grand Ole Opry; was the highlight of my life.
How I love to tap my foot and sing with them all
We would all clap our hands, dance and have a ball.
The road leading me through life was bumpy and long
But I grew up with respect, singing a good old country song.
Things haven’t changed that much over the years
‘Cause traditional country music; is still what I love to hear
The words to the songs...I knew off by heart
Even the ones…that didn’t make the charts.
CHORUS:
Yeah…the radio would be tuned in every Saturday night
To hear the Grand Ole Opry; was the highlight of my life.
How I love to tap my foot and sing with them all
We would all clap our hands, dance and have a ball.
I heard all the singers, on the grand old Opry
To meet them in person was a longing in me.
Being from a small town, we were known as country folk
We would be the first to laugh at a good old country joke.
But each song that was sung to us, was simple and true
Some would make us happy and some would make us blue.
CHORUS:
So we tuned in the radio every Saturday night
To hear the Grand Ole Opry was the highlight of my life.
How I love to tap my foot and sing with them all
We would all clap our hands, dance and have a ball.
Each song told a story that the singer would convey
They either sang on stage or sitting on a bale of hay.
So when life and its problems turn your smile into a frown
Just listen to country music the rhythm won’t let you down.
It will bring you back to moments remembering long ago
When we’d turn on the radio and to the Opry we would go.
CHORUS:
The radio would be tuned in every Saturday night
To hear the Grand Ole Opry was the highlight of my life.
How I love to tap my foot and sing with them all
We would all clap our hands, dance and have a ball.
Let’s be honest for a minute, love isn’t what it used to be.
The thing is, it seems like we forget why we fell in love in the first place. When we fall for each other, I believe there’s a good reason for it. Something clicked. Something in us changed. We found something in the other that makes our lives complete. Something in them that brings out the best in ourselves. And while looking into one another’s eyes, we can’t imagine a day where we’d ever live apart.
I’ve always believed in ‘love at first sight’. Call me a dreamer, but I believe that it’s made me fall in love even more than I ever thought I could. Even when I’d stop believing and would rather be alone than getting hurt again, I couldn’t stop myself from falling in love once again. Who could, anyway? But over the years, I’ve gained experience through loving and being in relationships. They’ve taught me how truly loving someone is actually different from what I’d originally believed.
It seems that we give up so easily. Whenever we hit a rough patch or when everything becomes so messed up, the only way to get through it is to give up. In those moments, it seems like the only option is a clean and easy break. Start fresh with someone new, hoping the relationship will be better than the last. It seems so easy, but it doesn’t mean it’s the right thing to do.
What happened to fighting for what we once believed? What happened to ‘I’ll love you, in sickness and health, till death do us part’? We say those words and mean them whenever they come out. Why can’t we hold on to them, fight for them… be true to them? Why, instead of growing together, we sometimes grow apart?
Love isn’t what it used to be.
Love me like the old days. Fall for me, like I fell for you in the flash of a second. By looking into my eyes, looking at who I am. Love me the way our grandparents loved each other. Fight for us even on the hardest days. Fight for the relationship for which you envisioned your future that first day you told me those three perfect words.
Fight for all the tomorrows to come. Fight for the memories we’re going to make together. Oh Honey, this adventure has just begun and I can’t imagine living a day without you standing next to me. Kiss me, remembering why you wanted me in the first place. Hold me tight and never let me go. Because I don’t want to leave this place we share. Because I will fight for us even on our darkest of days too. Because love should always be fought for.
It happened again. Just when you thought it’d be different. You let your guard down and let him in, thinking you’d be fine. Everything you believed in crashed right before your rainy eyes. You rewind everything in your mind and think about every single moment, trying to find ‘THE MOMENT’ everything fell apart. And you wonder for days… even weeks what you’d done wrong.
You've always been the good girl. That girl who always follows the rules, who never makes everything about her. That same girl who gives more than she usually gets. But she’s never cared. As long as he's happy, you are too. But good girls sometimes attract the wrong guys. Trust me, I know. One look at him and you know he's ‘THE ONE’. He understands you... Gets you... Takes care of you… Tells you how pretty you are. What you don't know is that he's ‘THE ONE’ who'll actually break you in two. After all you’ve given him, all you wanted was to feel wanted in return.
He’ll make you wonder how you could’ve ever thought that he was the right one. How could I believe that this guy―who took my breath away―was going to spend the rest of his life only looking at me? That’s just how we, the good girls, are. We believe in love at first sight. We believe in its magic, in the strike of lightning jolting us completely still when our eyes meet for the first time. We believe in its fairy tale and although we often get hurt in the process, we keep believing. This is what makes us who we are. The good girl.
Once you’ve had enough—and you always tell yourself you’ve had enough at the end of each failed relationship—you tell yourself “that was the last time”. But then, the number of ‘last’ times keeps pilling up. You end up forgetting all about your promises to yourself as soon as the next ‘ONE’ shows up. You fall for it again, only to end up hitting rock bottom once more. But don’t close your eyes… at least not yet. Because every failed relationship brings you closer to the right one. How do I know this?
Because I’m one of those girls; because I believe too.
“The rumbling of the wheels reminds me of why,
I’m on this train and trying not to cry.
I got a phone call from mom a day ago,
She said, “things don't look so good and I thought you ought to know”.
I always knew this day would come, but I was unprepared,
When the realization hit me, I was oh so scared.
After eighteen hours, to the hospital I arrived,
But his health wasn't good his oxygen was deprived.
I got on my knees and prayed to God up above,
I spoke to an angel with the wings like a dove.
She spoke so lovingly and calmed my shaking nerves,
She said, “things will be all right the road has many curves.
You know death really isn't the end of it all,
We just have to be prepared when Jesus on us calls.
Give respect to all living things that we meet,
So when our final day arrives your Savior you will meet.
Things turned out for the best, my dad had some bad days,
But on his 80th birthday he was happy and gay.
The lord doesn't give us more than we all can bear,
I spent a week with him, so he knows how much I care.
The doctor sent him home in pretty good health,
I think we all did okay with the cards we were dealt.
So the rumblings of the wheels, is better this time,
I heading back to my home cause things turned out just fine.”
I hope all reading this enjoy reading my poem it was written in March 2006 and I was feeling pretty sad when I started writing the first part because I did not know what I was going to see when I got to the hospital in Yarmouth so believe me when I say it was a nerve wrecking train ride. I tend to write in times of stress to get my mind off things it helps me relive the tension. I have written many poems and songs that way, unfortunately this one didn't quite end here... On the morning of April 9, 2006... not even one month later my sister called with the news that I didn't want to hear. My dad went to bed the night before and just didn't get up the next morning, I was devastated to say the least and I will forever miss him. But I will be thankful I had the chance to take that train ride to see him one last time.
I wrote this poem as an obituary for him one year later...
I WONDER...
“I wonder about so many things as the days go slowly by,
I wonder about the world, at large and why we even try.
I wonder can you see us as we go from day to day?
I wonder can you hear us when we're on our knees to pray?
I wonder if you are watching and see our teardrops fall?
I wonder if you realize how missed you are by us all?
I wonder is it true that you're now so young and free?
I wonder are things exactly the way they're supposed to be?
I wonder are you with family members that left us long ago?
I wonder are the answers what I wish or does my heart already know?
I wonder why we are afraid of the things we cannot see?
I wonder if everyone feels this way or is it only me?
I wonder if we are doing the things the way you'd want us too?
I wonder if they look and notice the vacant spot in your church pew?
I wonder will I see you when my final day grows near?
I wonder will you be there to comfort me so I will not fear?
I wonder although I don't have to about all these things,
I wonder but really I know you are with the king of kings.
Just a year ago you left us when God called you home,
We know that you are with us although we feel so alone.”
As everything in life the days pass and before we know it another year has come and gone and I decided to pen a new obituary which would be my final one.
“It has been two years since you went away,
God took you home on that cold April day.
The days have gone by slowly since you've gone,
Oh how I miss you, but life does go on.
As we go through life we feel you with us.
And smile as we think you'd laugh at the fuss.
But, even through we miss you so much,
We know you're happy to feel God's touch.
You were Charlie to most of the guys at the mall,
But a "Father" and missed by Paulette and Paul.”
There’s this girl everybody wants. A girl you fall for after only a look or a few words. She’s the sunshine you’ve been looking for, for so long. She’s the girl you can be yourself with without worrying about her judging you. Because you know she won’t. She’s the one who makes you laugh when you don’t feel like laughing. She’s the one who’ll hold you tight whenever you’re sad and who’ll never let you go. She’s perfect. But she’s only human.
There’ll be days where she’s going to be broken; days where her whole world’s going to fall apart. When you look at her, sometimes you’ll see the emptiness in her eyes. You’ll sense something’s off whenever she texts you in the morning. You’ll wonder if that girl’s the same girl you met on your first date. But she’s only human.
At times, she might say things that’ll hurt you. She might walk out the door, and make you wonder if she’s coming back. She’ll scream. She’ll cry. She’ll piss you off. She’ll become everything you hate in a girl. Everything you don’t want in a relationship. She’ll be everything but what you expected her to be. She’s only human.
She’ll make mistakes. She’ll talk too fast. Let her emotions take control of her. She’ll push you away, but in the end, all she wants is you by her side. She’ll tell you she can’t do it anymore, but all she needs to know is that she’s not alone. She’ll leave you in anger. She’ll slam the door behind her only to lean against it, praying you’ll come after her. And she’ll stop calling you and wait for you to call her ‘cause she needs to know that you’re thinking about her. Because she’s only human.
Everyone needs a place far away from this world when it becomes too big for you to live in. When everything’s going wrong. When you’re breaking down. A place for you to get back on track.
When you start walking, you always find your way to this place; whenever it is, wherever you are. You always end up following the same steps reaching the same final destination.
When everything goes so fast, here, time seems to freeze.
There’s this a place I used to go.
You know, the kind of place only you could feel such a strong connection with. Where, even in bad weather, you’ll still find this little sparkle of peace you’ve needed all along.
It’s a place that defines you. A place that complete you in a way nothing else can. Where you can go without fear and let go of everything. Cry out the storms of the days you can’t deal with anymore. Where you can let go of the ‘what ifs’ that seems to fill your life a little too much. Where you can scream out loud without being scared of anyone hearing you.
Because the world doesn’t exist here.
Because even if you don’t want to be alone, being alone here doesn’t matter to you.
I haven’t told many people about this place, nor brought many to it. It’s easier to keep it to yourself. It’s easier to keep these thoughts between you and this place. Not having to tell the world you’re falling apart. Not telling other souls about this part of you that just can’t keep up with life. A part filled with memories —good or bad—, preciously inked to the heart of it. For one to remembers a first love. To get closer to a friend. A part that remembers talking for hours when words seemed so hard to speak, or to just sitting quietly. I remember these times and oh how many of them there have been.
There’s a place I used to go. A place I haven’t been to for so long… until today. Because today was one of those days. You know, the kind of day you feel like crying in the dark. The kind of day you just want to scream your lungs out, careless of who might hear. Because there is too much to bare, too much to handle, too much to deal with. Because the little you inside yourself, just had enough. ‘Let it go,’ you tell yourself, ‘just let it all out’. And in the safeness of this place, you just do.
I let the rain fall and break the silence. One tear after another. One scream at a time.
Because I know I can. Because I’m safe. Because I’m home here.
