A TEAR FELL

"Fill ‘er up?" the old man asked, interrupting my thoughts.

"Yeah, fill ‘er up" I replied.

"Say, ain’t you……sure you are…one of them Shepherd boys, Barney, ain’t it?" He smiled and thrust his hand through the open window of the car. "Ain’t seen you in a coon’s age! Been up north somewhere?"

"South, Sam," I replied, grasping his hand and confirming his recognition.

"Goin’ up on the creek?" he yelled while filling the tank.

"Yeah, thought I’d run up and see the old place again." I replied loudly, turning toward the rear.

"Ain’t nobody livin’ there now, not since Larry moved down here. That’ll be three dollars" he said while pinching the end of a freshly rolled cigarette, placing it in the corner of his mouth and pocketing the can of Prince Albert in the bib pocket of his overalls.

I handed him three one dollar bills. He accepted the money, wet the tip of his forefinger and thumb and checked each bill carefully. "Habit" he winked and with a toothless grin, thrust them into the pocket with the Prince Albert. He extracted a heavy wooden match from his front pocket, heisted his right leg, reached back to the underside of his overall leg and brought the match forward. It lit the first try!

"Thanks, see you again before I go back" I said while releasing the emergency brake and starting the engine. "Take it easy, Sam."

He threw the expended match stick to the ground, took a long drag on the cigarette and yelled, "I take it anyway I can get it, son, anyway I can get it" laughing and slapping the side of his leg with his hat.

I eased the car forward and started home!

I looked down at the old house. On each side were the large stone chimneys. The house seemed to snuggle and nestle sadly between these tired stone structures, as it had resigned itself to a lifetime of imprisonment. To the right of the house stood a lonely old lash horn pine tree, worn and tattered with age. The house, the chimneys and the tree appeared as one complete entity consigned to deaths row. Old Mother nature stood by, the near victor………delighting in her cruelty!

I opened the front door and entered into the living room. Still hanging on the wall was a faded blue sigh with white raised letters "GOD BLESS THIS HOME!’ I looked through the door to the bedroom on the right with the stairway to the second story. Mother and Father had always slept in this room. The children slept upstairs.

When I stayed out late, I had always bent over their bed at this spot, kissed my Mother’s cheek and very quietly tiptoed up the stairs. My Mother always called out "Good night, son just as I got to the landing near the top. I always knew she never slept until all her children had returned!

I walked up the steep hill to the cemetery, a wreath in each hand. The cemetery was situated on a high hill overlooking the quiet and serene valley below. I balanced the wreaths on the top rail and climbed over the dilapidated fence. I found the two graves, side by side, in the upper left corner. I knelt down and pulled back the briars, weeds and vines. Etched in the white marble I read my parents names. I cleared a spot on the two graves and placed a wreath on each one. I turned my face to the sky for one brief moment while I gently rubbed the cold white marble slabs, then bowed my head and for the first time in years I prayed!

Her children had all returned. She could rest now, in eternal sleep!

And I remembered.

A TEAR FELL

When I was just a little boy, snuggled up on Mama’s arm,
Her eyes turned misty as she sang and I watched a teardrop form.
I reached up to touch it and it fell upon my face.
She brushed it off so tenderly, but another took its place!

One day she sent me off to school, her hands felt soft and warm.
She cupped my cheeks and kissed me and I watched a teardrop form.
I reached out to touch it and it fell upon the floor.
When I looked back at Mama was when I saw some more.

I stepped down from center stage and turned on all my charm
And when Mama touched the tassel I watched a teardrop form.
I reached out to touch it and it fell upon my gown
As an omen to the future and another one rolled down!

I stood there in my uniform with stripes upon my arm.
She reached out and held me close and I watched a teardrop form.
I reached out to touch it like a treasure I should seek.
Another one just formed again, right there on Mama’s cheek!

The last time I saw Mama, it was a calm before the storm.
Just before they closed the lid, I felt a teardrop form.
It rolled right down my saddened face and fell upon her breast
As a reassuring promise that she had done her best!