Little girl of peaches and cream
One could find so easy to love
Little girl with a dream
Beauty of a snow-white dove
How great it would be in this life
A lesson of love complete
If we could share this special dream
Lessons from a girl so sweet
Linger now for a while
Thoughts of what one could dream
Change your ways or even your style
And share the joy of peaches and cream
~ Gemini Joe ~
N
ow, we come to the miracle baby. After so many years, your mom got pregnant again. It was my job to prepare the nursery while your mom was still in the hospital. I painted it pink because all of a sudden we got ourselves a baby girl. There was my little doll, Lisa, blue eyed with blonde hair. “Are you sure she’s not the milkman’s daughter,” I joked, but I loved her so much.
You guys were made a big stink over her and your mom got a little break there because you guys were so fascinated. Everyone wanted to hold her. Diane loved to change her diaper and when she got older, Joey used to put her on his shoulders. I had to worry about that. I didn’t want her to fall. I guess I was just a worry bug.
I used to make up silly songs and take her to the candy store. “Me and Lisa going to the candy store.” She loved that.
Every day Grandpa came upstairs to see her. But then, one day, he didn’t. Your mom went downstairs to check on him, but he was very sick. She wrapped him in a blanket and called for an ambulance. I didn’t know that had happened so after work, I stopped at the bar.
By the time I got home, it was too late. He had died. I think your mom blamed me. For some reason she blamed me for everything that went wrong. Maybe she was right, but I tried my best. All I wanted to do was take care of my family. There were times when I had two jobs, one in the day, and one at night. It was hard. I only had two or three hours between each job and it would be crazy to lie down so I used to sleep at the kitchen table with a pillow.
You have to realize that your mom and I were very young. We were growing up with you and we weren’t that educated towards being a parent. You know, we hit and missed, and made some errors. I know I did, and your mom did her best. That was all we could do. I loved you all very much. As you were growing up, we had some downfalls, but I kept moving along. Whenever you guys got into trouble, I wasn’t home and your mom would get very upset over that.
At one point, it bothered me so I went to church and spoke to a priest. He was an old Italian man. I told I felt badly because I wasn’t there when my children got in trouble.
He said, “Hold it. We could look at this in another light. Maybe the reason things went wrong is because you weren’t there.”
Wow, that relieved me of some of my guilt.
I loved your mom but every time I turned around, someone from her family was at our front door. She seemed to care more about them than for our family. She always put them first. We came last. I wasn’t too happy with that, but I didn’t know how to change it. I know that I was wrong. All the fighting and yelling wasn’t good. Thinking back, I should have handled it different, but at the time, I was trying to get her to take care of her own children. The more I argued, the more she wanted her sister. She didn’t want to be bothered with me. You can’t force someone to love you.
Things weren’t going so good with your mom, but at least I got four beautiful children. On that same theme with your mom, I have to tell you. That’s your mom, the woman that I respected and married. Love her and take care of her. Whatever you can do, do it. Maybe I’m getting older and gaining tolerance towards it all. She was a good woman. I will never forget that, but it was time to let it go.