Ellie Mae

Ellie Mae was the mother of two back in 1955.
She was only thirty-three and so much alive.
But time, it takes its toll on folks,
And they just wither away Like Ellie Mae.

Homer ran a restaurant in 1963.
He says, "I'll tell you all my recipes
If you'll just sit and talk to me.
You see, no one ever visits me,
And all my friends are gone,"
But you walk on.

Some of the people in the halls,
They don't even know their names.
Some are bound to wheelchairs,
Some can walk with canes.
Each one has a story, a tale from years ago,
But Ellie's is the only one you know.

Mr. Jones was a sailor in 1943.
When Uncle Sam came calling,
Well, he put out to sea.
He survived the Big One,
But now he lives day to day like Ellie Mae.

There she sits at the window watching the children play.
She doesn't even know that you have come to see her today. You know that she's your mother,
But you don't know what to say; Poor Ellie Mae.

But still, she wears a constant smile
Like Homer and Mr. Jones,
'Cause even though they're frail and weak,
They're more than skin and bones.
No one really understands how it could be you someday,
Just sitting in that chair...
Like Ellie Mae.
Like Ellie Mae.