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Ancestors

from Back Home by Tret Fure

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lyrics

She gazed down softly at him
Her special handsome beau
At 93, her love for Pa
Did ever brightly show
Three quarters of a century
Through hard times and the good
They never spoke an angry word
I hardly think they could

I watched her smile sweetly
Her twinkling eyes of brown
A young girl at the heart of things
Though age had slowed her down
“We never thought that kids would come”
Then Pa turned with a grin
“Ah, but when we learned, we couldn’t stop
Then quit after the twins.”

Eleven children all in all
And a grandson taken in
Loving tales of years gone by
Through the thickest and the thin
A farmer needs a lot of help
The kids all worked each day
Plowing fields and digging peat
And bringing in the hay

Grandpa had the toughest skin
He’d never seem to mind
Packing in the silo
And putting in the time
The boys would stamp and shiver
Through winter’s deepest chill
He never seemed to freeze like them
That strong Norwegian will

Then as they aged and needed care
A new life soon arose
With heavy heart at 90
The sweethearts still so close
With failing eyes and failing ears
Reluctantly agreed
To leave their home in Keister
And move on to Albert Lea

It was common knowledge in the home
With all the lights turned down
With all the elders tucked tight in
And darkness all around
Pa would push his bed up next to
Ma’s there in the room
Hand in hand across the reach
The sleeping bride and groom

Pa would always say he hoped
He’d be the first to go
He couldn’t bear to live without
His precious Anna Flo
As fate would soon decide it
Clemet passed away
At 96, a sweet goodbye
Was all that he could say

Ma passed from us two years hence
Peacefully at ease
Reaching outstretched arms to someone
Only she could see
I do believe she reached for Pa
I’d like to think it so
Waiting from the other side
For his precious Anna Flo

All that we remember
All we never will
The grandsons and the granddaughters
And generations still
We’ve written down our memories
To pass as history
We cannot lose the light of
All our precious ancestry

credits

from Back Home, track released April 25, 2001

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Tret Fure image

Tret Fure Newport News, Virginia

Tret Fure began her career at 16, singing in coffeehouses in the Midwest. At 19 , she moved to LA and within a year was performing as guitarist and vocalist for Spencer Davis, penning the single for his album “Mousetrap”.  In 1973 she recorded her first solo album on MCA/UNI Records, with Lowell George of Little Feat as her producer. 
Tret has released 16 acclaimed albums in her long career.. ... more

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