Senath Mo.Class of '58
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