It was a beautiful early summer morning as I pulled the cover off my old Corvette and backed out of our garage; one of those mornings when God and man had left the earth to nature and the animals.
My coffee shop opens at five thirty a.m. and that was where I was headed. As I drove from my neighborhood I slipped in a Willie Nelson cassette. Yes, I’m still using cassettes. As I drove along the lyrics to his first song began to sink in. In a way it is a love song, “To all the girls I’ve loved before who traveled in and out my door.” Do you ever think about the important girls in your life?
As I drove along the song made of think of all the “girls” who have been a part of my life. Now before you jump to conclusions I’m not just talking about girl friends, although they should have their just due, but maybe another time. I thought about a lady who came out onto her back porch and called out to her niece and two nephews, “Popsicles, popsicles are ready.” Whatever we were doing the three of us stopped and ran to the porch for popsicles. Earlier in the day she made kool-aid and poured it into a small tray to put in the “ice box” for freezing; now they were ready. I thought about another aunt who often took her two small children along with me, her nephew, to Oakley’s Drug Store after church. She let the three of us sit on stools at the counter and she let us order cherry and chocolate cokes. On some Sunday’s she would give each of us money to purchase a small gift. I still remember a very small plastic red and yellow Captain Video car she once bought for me.
I thought about another lady who was like an older sister / mother type to me during my teenage and college years. Those college years were not easy for me and she had no way of knowing how her words helped me. There were numerous times I sat at their kitchen table and she and her husband gave me counsel whether it was sought or not. Generally it was she. I remember she once said to me, “You’re problem is you are lookin’ for a girl with grandma’s morals and Marilyn Monroe’s looks.” I also remember her husband’s quip about her statement, “Sounds like a pretty good combination to me.”
This Sunday is Mother’s day, a time set aside to especially honor our mothers, our wives and also our mother-in-laws. I cannot imagine what my life would be like had it not been for my mother and my wife. And our daughters and granddaughters probably don’t have a clue the influence they also have upon us.
Who traveled in and out my door
I’m glad they came along
I dedicate this song
To all the girls I’ve loved before"
Who are the special girls in your life?
May 5, 2015
Keep on,
Larry Adamson