Last Dime of Winter

In the wintertime of my world as a child
I have to admit we children got pretty wild

when the snow would pile up real high
mom didn’t let us always go outside

the winters were a cold and bitter time for me
I wanted to be running the Hillside free

I don’t have many fond memories of winter
we were always chopping wood and my hands got lots of splinters

Daddy couldn’t drum up much work on cold days
I remember his sad look as he watched us play

My mom would always smile and put up a face
but there was a different mood in our little place

when the holidays came around it was hard on my parents
they never said a word , what money came in, out faster it went

All us kids around the big kitchen table would sit
We made teams of two , someone always threw a fit

We’d bring out the monopoly game and play for hours
I would look out the windows and see white but no flowers

There was this one winter time I remember above all others
it was something that was done by my loving mother

it was so cold that winter that we slept on a pallet by the fireplace
just us four girls, to be the closest to the warm side we always raced

it was Christmas Eve I remember it well
my mother did something that made my heart swell

after she thought we had all fallen asleep
she walked to the tree in the corner without making a peep

she put four little bundles under the skinny ugly tree
I couldn’t wait for her to go back to bed so I could see

when my eyes beheld what was under there
my tears started falling everywhere

I realized even then at a very young time
it must’ve cost my mom and dad their last dime

four store-bought coats for my sisters and me
this year we wouldn’t go to school all raggedy

even at the tender age of 10, I knew life was a struggle
I never understand how my parents could juggle

when wintertime rolls around each year
sadness comes on in and I have that same fear

I’m not especially fond of the wintertime
but the memory of mom and dad when they spent their last dime

is something I remember every year
though it’s not a happy memory
I still hold it dear