Once a year we stop and pray
That all life’s blessings come your way
As we return your love to you
Oh may we be a blessing too
In your body we were born
At the dawn of our life’s morn
There within a nursery sweet
Our heart first began to beat
When I called out in the night
You appeared and brought me peace
With a kiss and with a sigh
With a sweet lullaby
As you send us on our way
In our every hour and day
May we live a life that’s true
May we grow to be like you
Sun of day and stars of night
Shine but do not shine as bright
As the kindness of your face
As your smile full of grace
So once a year we stop and pray
That all life’s blessings come your way
As we return your love to you
Oh may we be a blessing too
Mother's Day, Mothers' Day
Songs of Unforgettable Women
There is Mother’s Day and there is Mothers’ Day. In one we celebrate our own mother and in the other we celebrate and remember all the powerful and influential mothers in our lives. It may be an aunt who spoiled you or a mother or two in the neighborhood you grew up in. It may be an adopted mother when your own is gone. What follows are songs celebrating unforgettable mothers and motherly souls.
The Voice of Pequat Mills
This photo of a youthful Dorothy was first published in a plant newspaper, and Dorothy was identified as the “Voice of Pequat Mills.” Pete hitchhiked from Detroit to Marblehead each summer and worked the mill. The rest is history.
The men worked hard, they all wore a frown
In a mill in Salem town
The only happiness they found
When through the speaker
They heard the sound
The voice, the voice
Of Pequat Mills
The voice, the voice
of Pequat Mills
Sent men reeling
Gave them chills
It was the voice, the voice
Of Pequat Mills
One day Peter came to town
One day Peter heard the sound
“Mr Brown call 4 , 2 , 3”
Sounded like a melody
Peter looked to find the booth
His eyes beheld the glorious truth
A lovely face to match the voice
And poor Peter had no choice
First she said maybe
Then she said no
Then eeny, meany, miney, moe
P-E-T-E spells Pete
And you are not it
We all know what happened next
First she said no then she said yes
Let’s put our love to that great test
They went to Our Lady Star of the Sea
And they had it blessed
The voice, the voice, of Pequat Mills
The voice, the voice, the voice that kills
Peter’s heart nearly stopped its true
When the Voice of Pequat said, “I do.”
The Kat Collection
Many families have an aunt who co-raised the family, and Kat helped raise a couple dozen nieces and nephews in the McLaughlin clan. A natural ham, she encouraged theatrical expression and wrote countless skits for co-workers in the eternal pursuit of good will and good humor. On her 75th the cousins gathered to roast her.
The Kat Collection is made up of the following songs: You Got It Make Old Maid, Kat Stories, Close But No Cigar, If I Had To Do It All Again, and
You’re a Good Thought.
You got it made old maid
You got it made old maid
At 75 and ingénue
A condo with a forest view
My parent’s clock still says coo coo
And most would say I’m well to do and say
You got it made old maid
You got it made old maid
In this day and age
The youngest child
Is allowed to be free
Is allowed to be wild
Back then they’d say
Kat skip a spouse
Take care of aging parents
In an aging house
I used to resent it
I used to complain
Now I know any other life
Would drive me insane
So I say
Young people today
Choose an army career
They want to fight terror
Over there and over here
Trained a social worker
I too am battle worn
Fighting domestic terror
Right in here Dearborn
After facing that violence
And the greatest of fears
No wonder I have
flashback panic attacks
In my later years
So I say
A friend and co-parent
To nephews and nieces
I taught them to laugh
And loved them to pieces
Trained a social worker
A resource day and night
I tried to teach my siblings
To raise their children right
I look around the room
You all fill my cup
But in spite of my efforts
Your parents still screwed you up
Still I say
Kat stories sad but true
Tasty sips from an Irish stew
You’ll be glad it isn’t you
In a Kat story
Sad but true
Pete and Dot the most romantic
Couple that I knew
Pete bought her bunnies and called her bunny
And loved her through and through
Years later I sensed a tension
5 kids no money apprehension
I said buy her a bunny Pete
Restore your love sublime
He said I’ve got to tell you
Things change in time
Pop had a chance to make millions
Delivering bread to the masses
If he did the family would have jumped
Two or three social classes
The family broke and busted
But a teetotaler could not be trusted
He said thanks but no thank you
Went proudly on his way
That guy made his millions
Mum reminded him every day, you’re a...
Went to a party at Julie’s
For a Christmas celebration
Kat perceived that Pat and I
Had a situation
“Did you notice Pat is eating
In another room
I have a good eye
For impending doom
I’d make amends now Billy
If I were you
Or you’re going to wind up
A Kat story too”
Close but no cigar
Love’s elation
Just a feeling
But not a vocation
First love is magical
Then mundane
Then love turned in to
A ball and chain
Kat had trouble finding’
her mister right
Some fun by day
But a bore by night
Some want a lover
Some want a friend
Some want an elaborate
Let’s pretend
We’re a happy couple
She started to ponder
Whether not or whether
She could ever launder
Their clothes together
Dinner at 8, no 830
They’d have to agree
On a million little things
Before they could be
A happy couple
Close but no cigar
Love’s elation
Just a feeling
But not a vocation
First love is magical
Then mundane
Then love turned in to
A ball and chain
Friends say in love
Your dreams and desires
Are met by a man
Whose love never tires
Nothing can match
A lover’s charm
Walking together arm and hammer
As a happy couple
Some friends were nosy
And asked how she blew it
And nosier still
Did she ever?
She answers with a smile
Knowing and wise
And tells them the same things
She told those guys
Close but no cigar
Love’s elation
Just a feeling
But not a vocation
First love is magical
Then mundane
Then love turned in to
A ball and chain
If I had to do it all again
If I had to do it all again
If I could take it all back
And do it all again
I’d do it all again
I'd probably make the same mistakes again
I'd Probably make the same mistakes again
I’d make them day and night
Until I got them right
Probably make the same mistakes again
Can’t go back and change it anyway
Can’t go back and change it anyway
In spite of all my tears
My weak moment lasted years
You can’t go back and change it anyway
If I had to do it all again
If I had to do it all again
If I could take it all back
And do it all again
I’d do it all again
There’s one final thing I’d like to share
Before I take my castle in the
Truth hurts but rights the wrong
Just face it and move on
One final thing I’d like to share
I go to meet my maker and its true
He’ll apologize he stripped a screw
I’ll forgive him for my flaws
Give thanks for life just as it was
Then I’ll ask for a re-do
The highest honor we can give
As long as we’re allowed to live
Is not in praise and not in things
Its in the thought of you
And the smile it brings
You have a way of reaching out
Into the sorrow and the doubt
Soon the pain is on the wing
At the words of you and the
Smiles they bring
With a doe see doe
And a doe see dee
With a cow girl’s call
Yodel ayhee odle ayhee
Another doe see doe
Another doe see dee
You’re a good thought
And you’ll always be
You are a jewel in the family crown
At times a saint at times a clown
The piper calls we dance and sing
To the voice of you and the smile it brings
Life is long but the hour is late
They say all’s lost if you hesitate
So raise a glass in thanks we sing
We love you Kat and the smiles you bring
Long Ago and Far Away
We were lacking leadership from the Greatest Generation. Helen of snicker doodle fame and Bud her husband were adopted by our family. The song “Long ago and far away” celebrates their 60th anniversary and tells their story.
Long ago and far away
I remember a wedding day
A ring and a promise
A kiss for luck
A simple ceremony
But it sure stuck
After the wedding
The sky was blue
After the wedding
Came World War two
Honeymoon then
Goodbye tears
GI Bud gone
3 long years
In a little house
On a little street
With a little money
But a lot of sweet
The next thing you know
Her waistline grew
Three little babies
Coochy, coochy,
Coochy, coo
Elvis and a pelvis
And a trip to the moon
I’ve seen enough of life
It could make me swoon
But if there’s a wisdom
Tried and true
The secret to the good life
Is still “I love you”
Once More Into the Breach
Paula Koskey was a colleague at the cancer center, and was diagnosed with cancer the first day on the job. 18 years later she succumbed after a third relapse. At her memorial service our cancer center director Karen North aptly described her as “our beloved Paula.” She was well known as a Nirvana Sister, and performed hilarious songs about chemotherapy and radiation therapy at the cancer center Boost Camp. She wrote remarkable poems and led a journaling project. Her gift was to make everyone feel at ease and in good humor in ten seconds or less. And in a minute or two she made most feel they had known her for a lifetime.
Once More Into the Breach was written at the time of her third relapse.
Once more into the breach
Once more into the breach, old friend
When you’re out on the brink
Here’s a smile and a wink - it's
All you’ll need in the end
When it's Once more into the breach
Once more into the breach, old friend
All is fair in love and war
Not all is fair in life
Again a pure and peaceful soul
Is called to strife
To live you pay a toll
Others never pay
To live you suffer much
As others dance and play
But 3 times is the charm
And this time’s the third
So you’re off for one last battle
With the absurd
Getting sick is getting old
But getting old sounds pretty good
Paula the crone sitting by a fire
In the springtime wood
King Henry said it well
Summon tigers for the fight
And when peace comes rolling
Gentle creatures will delight
But a tired old tiger
Fights a different kind of fight
Got to be crafty
To get in the last bite
You don’t look the tiger
So you’re going' to have to win
By wit and craft and humor
And good old spin
You have your journal
And your poetry that calms
Only King David
Wrote such eloquent psalms
So many care about you
I hope you draw the strength
That many at your side
Would go to any length
To keep you on the planet
Out of harm’s reach
To keep you from the battle
Keep you from the breach
But its not in our power
Nor under our control
To change the karmic mystery
Of another person’s soul
So we stand in awe of you
And your endless grace and grit
And pray for swarming platelets
And a warm hematocrit
