Snowbound

Aunt Mimi, I miss you like no other
When we were young you were like our second mother
The days in Awalt High
Stranded at your house for weeks at a time, snowbound
Us kids had so much fun at your house
Heated by a big black potbelly stove
I remember the orange embers glowing
I remember the TV at night showing
Happy Days and Laverne & Shirley
Oh, that was our big night

Pepperoni pizza and golden crisp potato chips
And drinking root beer
Oh, those young prepubescent years
Oh, thosе young prepubescent yеars

Nothing to call my own
Except what was given to me, I supposed
Didn't have two nickels to scratch together
But me and my cousins, we had so much fun together
Climbing apple trees and playing hide and seek
And the Easter egg hunts
There were so many hiding places
On those so many acres
Rusty cars that went on for days
And the barn that was stacked full of hay
And the church next door with the yard full of graves

And I remember my sister and Jenny playing under the tree next to the house
You'd sing "Playmate, oh won't you play with me
Under my apple tree..."
Another line about a cellar door
"...and we'll be jolly friends forevermore
More more more more more more."

And you guys would do this strategic can clapping thing
To each other's hands while you sang it
I remember us watching Jenny and Jimmy ice-skating on the frozen pond
We could never coordinate our legs right
We never figured out how to skate

Aunt Mimi, you were often on your own
Your husband out trucking
You could make something outta nothing
You always made sure we were fed
You used real butter, that tasted so good, my mom used margarine
I can still smell the frog legs sizzling in your
Big black iron skillet and a bluegill and a bass
That we caught from the pond
You can make anything taste delicious
Like a magician waving a magic wand

I can still smell your White Shoulders perfume
And your expression that you always used
How you'd say, "Oh my God, Mark!"
Even later in life when I'd surprise you in your room
There at the nursing home in Brewster

So glad I got to get you on the phone on Thursday
That I got a chance to tell you how much I loved you
To tell you how much you meant to me
And I gotta thank you for taking care of us
And how I'd come by and knock on your window next time I was in Ohio
Damn, I can't believe you died there
A couple days later alone, nobody allowed in to see you due to COVID
But we were all there in spirit and I know you know it

I've been mourning your loss the last two days
Especially this one, 'cause outside, it's dreary and cold and pouring rain
Laying in bed, thinking of my young summer and winter days
Remember your smile as bright as a big sunflower
Remembering how well you took care of your son and daughters
Remembering John Denver's Greatest Hits on display by the little turntable
Remembering your kitchen and your giant oak table
Now the sun glowed mellow, yellow light in the summer where the window was
Into living room of that low-ceiling house
With all that land and acreage in your house, I never once saw miles

It's amazing how nice you kept the place
Your home was our refuge, your home was our gathering place
I don't know what to say at this point really
Except to say how much I miss you Aunt Mimi
Your caring and loving and nurturing ways are not lost on me
You and your family have given me
Some of my nicest young memories