Chain of Love

He was driving home one evening,
In his beat up Pontiac
When an old lady flagged him down,
Her Mercedes had a flat
He could see that she was frightened,
Standing out there in the snow
'Til he said I'm here to help you ma'am,
By the way...my name is Joe

She said I'm from St. Louis,
And I'm only passing through
I must have seen a hundred cars go by,
This is awful nice of you
When he changed the tire,
And closed her trunk
And was about to drive away,
She said how much do I owe you
Here's what he had to say

You don't owe me a thing, I've been there too
Someone once helped me out,
Just the way I'm helping you
If you really want to pay me back,
Here's what you do
Don't let the chain of love end with you

Well a few miles down the road,
The lady saw a small cafe
She went in to grab a bite to eat,
And then be on her way
But she couldn't help but notice,
How the waitress smiled so sweet
And how she must've been eight months along,
And dead on her feet

And though she didn't know her story,
And she probably never will
When the waitress went to get her change,
From a hundred dollar bill
The lady slipped right out the door,
And on a napkin left a note
There were tears in the waitress's eyes,
When she read what she wrote

You don't owe me a thing,
I've been there too
Someone once helped me out,
Just the way I'm helping you
If you really want to pay me back,
Here's what you do
Don't let the chain of love end with you

That night when she got home from work,
The waitress climbed into bed
She was thinkin' about the money,
And what the lady's note had said
As her husband lay there sleeping,
She whispered soft and low
Everything's gonna be alright.
I love you... Joe.

-- Clay Walker

I can't write about this song without printing the whole song in its entirety because of the story. It's a sweet song that reminds us what goes around comes around. And that's the way it should be. But it also came to mind after looking through pictures of my uncles online...and my mother. And the "Joe" story she used to tell me about her brothers. How her brother Barron had them convinced that if you went to the corner store and said "Hello, Hello, My name is Joe, Give me something free!" The store owner would. I don't know that they ever had the nerve to try it, but this was the big sibling joke they always tried to convince each other to do.

Another joke she told about frequently was the time Ronnie's friend would always stop by on his way home from the grocer and set his bag on their wide newel post while he visited. Then come flying down the stairs because he'd stayed too late, grab the bag, and run out the door. So one time Barron tied the bag to the newel post. When Ronnie's friend came running to grab the bag, it didn't go far. In fact, it broke open with the force of being grabbed on the run, and went spilling in all directions. The boys thought it was hilarious. The friend, not so much....

Or the time they got my mother to hold one hand to a shorted metal lamp, and the other hand to the metal railing down their front steps. She was not amused when she got the strong jolt of electricity.

So this is where I get my sense of humor from... My cousins hiding my Mother's Easter Egg next to a dead bird in the garden just to startle her. My cousins trying to convince my brother to jump down the clothes chute or accidentally on purpose fall in the creek. Or throw me in the swimming pool - lawn chair and all. My uncle making up crazy nicknames for us all. Because it's part of the chain of love that is this family.