Nine kids and two adults round the kitchen table

Church benches for us kids and Mom and Dad on chairs

Mom’s macaroni mixed with hot dogs and canned tomato soup

God bless Mr. Campbell as we bow our head for prayers

Saturdays at the Perry house, we all would have to earn our keep

Us boys, along with our father, prepared the supply of winter wood

The girls scrubbed, washed and polished, and then found time to bake

Then they’d get the parlor for Frank’s Bandstand that was understood

The smell of yeast working Dad’s home brew behind the woodstove

The smell of his wine scented pipe tobacco on the evening air

Don Messer on the black and white TV, Mom knitting beneath a lamp

Ah life was good and simple back then, we had so much to share

Bedtime call at nine o’clock, we’d line up for the bathroom sink

Then peanut butter sandwiches for our snack and a cup of tea for Dad

Now each and all down on our knees to say our bedtime prayers

Smiling, I look back now, I guess things weren’t really all that bad.