The room is shrinking, my sister said
As we squeezed into our single bed
Just yesterday we’d lived in our childhood home
With grass and bikes and space to roam
Why were we living in this tiny abode?
Mother told daddy we should hit the road
I grew up fast in that big, adult world
Babysitting little boys and little girls
Daddies serving in Viet Nam
And mommies went clubbing drinking til dawn
College boys piling empty beer cans in windows
My brother swimming, curly blond hair and tanned toes
Elvis and Priscilla getting married in Vegas
Family visiting by car and by bus
Driving the Studebaker 8 miles to the beach
Frozen bananas, Coppertone, surfing the sea
These are the things I will always remember
That crazy summer from May to September
Years have passed and daddy is not here
Better times, worse times, and nights soaked with fear
Traveling in circles from coast to coast
This is not the way I would have chose
Don’t think, just surrender, I read on the wall
Waiting for the biggest blessing of all
Screamie Birds Studios 