| Cheers by Jack Here's to the mother who carried you so long,
Not that you knew it, being so very young,
Who coaxed you to sleep, with a lullaby song,
Who blessed the sweet moment the day you were born,
And, when you were ill, stayed with you till dawn,
But when crossed berated almost with scorn,
The sweetest mother in the world.
And here's to the dad, who looked on with glee,
Who bounced you (too hard sometimes) on his knee,
And when you were wet said 'it's done a p',
And handed you over, as fast as could be,
Who taught you to swear, but not while he was around,
Who took you for a drink then said 'it's your round',
And you wish you now could just hear the sound,
Of his voice, the best sound in the world.
And to the sister who taught you to walk,
And then later on tried to teach you to talk,
But couldn't sound her 'esses' so stork came out thtork,
Who took you to school on your very first day,
And you didn't want to go, so you cried all the way,
After finding new friends you were willing to stay,
And thought 'the best ever days in the world'.
And to the brother, who often gave you a thump,
But who you thought was great, he was the ace trump,
Who often gave you a sly kick in the rump,
Who you blamed every time that you had a bump,
Who taught you to fish and then how to fight,
And told you to 'shush' when he sneaked in late at night,
Who got married and left home, and you to your plight,
He was the bestest brother in the world.
And here's to the granny who left us so soon,
Whose grave we visit each weekend afternoon,
Whose kisses were dischclothy, and she used to say 'mmm',
And grandad who had the shiniest white hair,
And smelled of tobacco but we didn't care,
When he reached for his pocket we knew sweets were in there,
The nicest, oldest folks in the world.
And here's to the help that I had through the years,
Now I can look back on the blood, sweat, snot and tears,
And say thanks to them all for allaying my fears,
Now, long in the tooth, I remember those days,
My memories stretch back, though some are a haze,
We all of us grew up in our own different ways,
But we still made it into this world.
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