Twenty-six Cents

There was a time when I knew all the country western songs and artists - thirty-some years ago. I haven't kept up. The radio station my car radio is set to right now is one that plays an eclectic selection of music including older CW.  I heard a song this morning that I didn't recognize, but felt immediately. It was 26 Cents by a Canadian CW group - The Wilkinsons.  If you want you can Google them and hear the song, but here are the lyrics:

Wilkinsons - 26 Cents Lyrics

She sat alone on a bus out of Beaumont
The courage of just 18 years
A penny and quarter were taped to a letter
And momma's goodbye in her ears

She watched as her high school faded behind her
And the house with the white picket fence
Then she read the note that her momma had wrote
Wrapped up with 26 cents

When you get lonely, call me
Anytime at all and I'll be there with you, always
Anywhere at all
There's nothing I've got that I wouldn't give
And money is never enough
Here's a penny for your thoughts
A quarter for the call
And all of your momma's love

A penny and a quarter buys a whole lot of nothing
Taped to an old wrinkled note
And when she didn't have much she had all momma's love
Inside that old envelope

When you get lonely, call me
Anytime at all and I'll be there with you, always
Anywhere at all
There's nothing I've got that I wouldn't give
And money is never enough
Here's a penny for your thoughts
A quarter for the call
And all of your momma's love

Oh its been years since momma's been gone
But when she holds the coins she feels her love just as strong

When you get lonely, call me
Anytime at all and I'll be there with you, always
Anywhere at all
There's nothing I've got that I wouldn't give
And money is never enough
Here's a penny for your thoughts
A quarter for the call
And all of your momma's love

Here's a penny for your thoughts
A quarter for the call
And all of your momma's love

And here is the picture which goes with the lyrics, at least for me. It was taken in September 1987 and shows my daughter Kari in front of her dorm at Macalester College in St. Paul. Why did she have to choose a school so far away? Just before I took the picture she had said, "Mommy, can I go home with you?" We both kind of treated the question like she was kidding, and I reassured her it was going to be fine, put a smile on my face, waved and drove away. I made it as far as the Mississippi River a few blocks away before totally losing it. I cried all the way to Farmington and only stopped then because I was meeting some people for lunch. The separation wasn't quite as painful years later when she told me she was moving 1700 miles away to Portland, OR, still ........

So the song was almost over; I was thinking about my daughter and how good it will be to see her in just a few days when the line Oh it's been years since Momma's been gone, was sung. That caused me to see the song from the other side. Now not only was I missing my daughter I was missing my Mom. A quarter wouldn't buy you a phone call anymore and with the internet those miles of separation from my daughter aren't as bad, but oh, how I miss talking with my Momma. She would definitely get her penny's worth!