Senath Mo.Class of '58   
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A Friend
Called
"Willy Dee"

  I still remember the first time we met
As it is a memory that no small child could ever forget.
For my mother you see had taken me into town
 To shop for groceries and to just look around.

The first thing I noticed as we walked by outside
 Were the toys in that store window, but on the other side.
I stopped and tugged at my mothers hand
while returning a wave to a strange blond haired man.

He was in a window- on a ladder - with toys galore
And he was beckoning my mother to come into the store.
I looked at mother as she smiled back at me
 Then walking inside she simply said , “Hello Willy Dee”.

I was stricken dumb by all the toys around
And I wondered how come so many in one small little town.
Then the man came down off the latter he was on
Where he had been quietly whistling the tune of a Christmas song.  

 He shook hands with my mother and then gesturing to me
Said, “look around --- there lots to see.”
As I began to try and pull away from her hand
My mother's quiet instruction was, “shake hands with this man.”  

As I held out my hand and as he smiled back at her
Mother leaned down and said, “ say hello to Mr. Ballinger.”  
Finally, having greeted him I could then stray
It was like I was wondering around in TOY HEAVEN that day.

As I grew older in that same little town
I often went in his store by myself  to look around.
  Her greeting that day was hers and was never meant for me,
   So I never referred to my mother's friend (Mr. Ballinger) as “Willy Dee”

But as the years have passed by and as age has set in
I began to think of him (Mr. Ballinger) as my (own) dear friend.
So now I understand why my mother felt so free
To refer to this man (her dear friend) simply as  “Willy DEE”

At a reunion, after almost fifty years we met - this man and me again
And I understood, I now considered him as my dear friend.
However, when I find myself discussing our mutual friends with her
I find myself calling him not “Willy Dee” but Mr. Ballinger.

Written By Bob Corley

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