If I could do it again
The Do-Over
Sitting in his rocking chair
I heard my Grandpa say
“Ya know what Sport …” he said to me
“I remember back in the day …”
I saw him close his big blue eyes
A smile came on his face
He was thinking back when he was young
To another time and place
Oh, to be a boy again
And to know what I know now.
If I could do it over
I’d change it all somehow.”
His eyes they twinkled merrily
His face got a big grin
“If I could be a boy once more
I’d do it all again.”
And then it was like magic …
Cause right before my eyes
I saw him turn in to a kid
He was just my size!
“Hey there Sport! Look at me NOW!
Let’s go find your brother!”
“Brother – heck!” I said to him
“We need to find my Mother!”
“Oh, come on Sport! We can’t do that!
Do you know what she would say?
Let’s keep this to ourselves right now.
Hey! Let’s go out to play!”
“I remember playing ‘Kick-the-Can’
And rolling a wheel down the street.
Picking apples right from the tree …
They were so good and sweet.”
“Come on Sport, let’s get outta here!
Let’s get ourselves to town!
There’s a big hill over by the park
That we can both slide down!”
“Ok, Gramps! This sounds like fun,
But how do you explain
That you really ARE my Grandpa
When my friends ask you your name?”
“I hadn’t thought of that.” he said
“Now this will sound quite silly,
Just call me what they use to do …
I was ‘Bronco Billy’!”
“Let’s go riding horses!”
“Let’s go chase a bull!”
“And when we’re done with that” he said
“We can have a taffy pull!”
“I know what we can do!” he said
“Ever go swimming in a lake?”
“Grandpa!!! We’re gonna get in trouble!
Oh my! Oh goodness sake!”
“Trouble is MY middle name!
Come on, this will be fun!
No ones gonna see us
And if they do … We’ll Run!”
So Gramps took off a trottin’
Right across the yard
I was pretty fast myself
But keeping up with him was hard!
He said he didn’t have much time
And he had a lot to do.
He wants a penny candy stick
And he’d buy one for me too.
A penny for some candy?
Riding horses? Chase a bull?
How could I tell my Grandpa
There is no taffy pull?
We found a local ‘Five and Dime’
When we walked in the door
Grandpa said “It looks just the same.
Just like it did before.”
Something here is really strange
“This just can’t be!” I thought.
Grandpa smiled and handed me
A penny candy he had bought.
The next stop was the school house
And he just stormed right in
It was one big room and black board
Where my new school had been!
Oh, this was getting WAY too weird!
But Gramps just laughed “He-he!”
He went right to his old wood desk
On the top he’d scratched B.B.
No one was around to play
He said “Let’s go to the farm!
We can sneak out to the garden.
We won’t do any harm.”
He took off a running
So I ran after him
And then we saw an old farm house
But the lights were oh, so dim!
“There it is! I’m HOME!” he shouted
As he ran up the ramp
The front room was just lighted
With an old oil lamp!
“There’s my bedroom in the loft!”
When we climbed up I saw
His bedspread was an old quilt
The mattress stuffed with straw!
We ran out to the pasture
And there was of course …
Cows and sheep and chickens
And there stood his big horse!
“Come on Sport! Let’s take a ride!
He can hold us two!”
We climbed on – That horse took off!
And like the wind we flew!
“Hold on Sport! This may get wild!”
Oh my! That horse could run!
Back home, I thought, at my own house
I’d never had such fun!
Grandpa knew where we were going
Right to the big bull pen
“Oh NO!!!” I said and shook my head
“Here we go again!”
“Let’s go Sport! Let’s chase him!
Come on! You’ll be fine!”
“Absolutely NOT Grandpa!
This is where I draw the line!”
“Alright, I guess you win, Sport
Since you won’t chase the bull
And you’re a ‘city boy’ and all
We’ll go find that taffy pull!”
We left the cows and horse behind
And started walking … it was far!
He said we’d have a lot of fun
At the Church Bazaar
Amazing! At the Church Bazaar
Everyone was there!
There were booths and cotton candy
It was like a county fair!
There was a table all set up
And it looked like it was full
All the kids were gathered round it
For the Taffy Pull!
“Grandpa! Grandpa! Do you see?
This is what you said!
We’re doing everything today
That was in your head!”
“I know it Sport. This has been fun
But we’re not quite done yet
Come on now – Just one more thing
Let’s go get soaking wet!”
“Grandpa! There’s just NO WAY!”
But then I smiled at him
This was his ‘Boyhood Day’ again
I said … “Let’s take that swim.”
I heard my Grandpa laughing
“This is where we use to go.
The lake was crystal clear
Out where the oak trees grow.”
The water was refreshing
And warm to our delight
We swam and rested in the sun
Till it was turning night
My Grandpa said he’d wondered
What a ‘Do-Over’ would bring
“But now I know my life’s been good.
I wouldn’t change a thing.”
My Mommy peeked through his room door
In the room my Mom did creep
She saw Grandpa in his rocking chair
Him and me were fast asleep
Grandpa had been dreaming
Of when he was a boy
And my dream was to know him then
Would be my fondest joy!
