(Wedding Day 1966)
 
 

The song now playing is
"I'll Walk You Home"
(Scroll down for lyrics)
 

"I'll Walk You Home"
(The Story)
 

She was my very first friend and her name was Suzanne.
I called her "Suzy" and she called me "Pamy".
We were two little girls spending our summer afternoons
playing in the sunshine.
 We were also third cousins, born only three months apart.
Our mothers sat us on a blanket together as babies
and neither of us could remember life without the other.

Suzy lived on one side of our small town and I lived
on the other which worked out to be about
7 blocks apart.  We loved to spend time together
and we would hurry to get our chores done and if
it was Suzy's turn to come to my house,
she would ask her mother,
"May I go to Pamy's house?"  If permission was granted,
the next question was, "How many hours can I stay?"
Three hours was usually the most we would get and
to children that was a lot of time for laughter and make believe.

On sunny days we would climb trees, dress up our kittens in
doll clothes, and have picnics complete with mud pies decorated
with dandelions.  On rainy days we would climb up in the hayloft
and pretend to be in a ship on the ocean.  My brother had rigged up
an old rusty wheel he had made to steer the ship
just like we saw in the pirate movies.  Our ship was complete
with corncob bomb rigging.
Other times we would sing and play songs on the piano
or get Suzy's sister, Linda, to play "Here Comes the Bride" and we
would take turns being the bride with and old lace tablecloth.
 Most of all I remember sharing secrets and all the giggling.

When we were told that our visiting time was over,
the one being visited would walk the other home.
I can still hear Suzy say,
"Wait and I'll ask mother if I can walk you home."  We had agreed
on the halfway mark between her house and mine, which was
St. Aloysius Church, but almost always we would be chattering
away and she would end up walking me all the way home.
I wouldn't want her to have to walk all the way back
to her house alone so we would do it again,
and only go as far as the church this time.

As we grew up, we did everything together.
We got our first high heels together,  wore our first lipstick together,
and went to church and
school together.  When we dated, we usually doubled.
If one of us didn't have a date, the other would try to find one for her.

As the years went by, one day the inevitable happened.
Suzy was the first to get married and  I was her maid of honor.
It was like the end of an era, and afterward I went home and cried
and sobbed for three hours.  Somehow I knew, deep within my heart,
that things would change…and they did.

Within a year, I was also married and we no longer lived close to
each other.  We kept in contact over the years through letters
that became less frequent as children came into the picture
and the busyness of life took up more time.  I visited her
several times and we would laugh and have a wonderful time.
She kept her home beautifully decorated because she was
a very creative person.  I often teased her that
she could do anything with contact paper.

Years went by and my mother became ill and within weeks she died.
I was at the funeral home the evening before the funeral when
Suzanne came walking in and took my hand,  just like when
we were kids….....holding hands with your fingers intertwined.
She hugged me and let me cry and then began to lighten the
moment by pointing out my blonde ringlets on the family picture
gallery there in the funeral home.  I went from tears to laughter
since I didn't know the picture was there and
swore to "find out"  who put it there.

It meant a lot to me that Suzy was "there" for me.
I knew that she had only recently lost her sister to cancer,
the same sister who played the wedding march
for us when we pretended to be brides.

The next time I saw Suzy was at our high school alumni party.
We hung out together and had a wonderful time.  We discovered
that we both had computers and email.  Thus began a whole new
way of communicating again.  We'd send email back and forth
and I'd keep every word she sent me.

It was October, and I lived three states away when I got the email
from Suzy.  She said the back pain and problem she'd been
having was bad news.
I scanned down the email quickly and that stab of  pain
struck my heart as I saw the word "cancer."
My mind reeled as I wanted to scream, "No," "Not Suzy!"

The next few weeks and months were a series of doctor visits,
hospital stays, and chemotherapy.  We talked on the phone
and her concern was never for herself but for others
and especially her two daughters.  She told me,
"Take care of yourself, Pamy" "Go see your doctor
and make sure you are healthy."

As Suzy got weaker, the emails dwindled
as she wasn't able to sit for long.  I would call her
on the phone and she told me she was going home,
there was nothing more they could do for her at the hospital
and they told her she didn't have very much time.  The last time
I talked to Suzy was on Easter Sunday and she was too weak
to say much but we said the important things.
We told each other  "I love you" one last time.

I like to think that Suzanne, who was always concerned
about others, is up in heaven helping Jesus get our mansions ready
for the rest of us.  I don't think she'll need contact paper this time.

Before Suzy died, I wrote a song for her that she liked.
It was about us growing up together.  I called it "I'll Walk You Home."
I sang it one last time for her at her funeral and this time……….
.......Jesus walked her home.

By Pamela R. Blaine
copyright, April 28, 2000

(1.) Can you come to my house?
How many hours can you play?
Did you ask your mother?
These are the words we'd always say.
You can play with  Mary Ellen
She's your favorite doll, I know
We'll climb up in the hayloft
And play house before you go

(Chorus) Then I'll walk you home
So you don't have to walk alone.
I wish this time would never end
You know you'll always be my friend
Yes, I'll walk you home today
And I'll walk you all the way
Kindred spirits from the start
We're joined at the heart
Come, I'll walk you home.

(2.) Growing up together
Little girls just having fun
Mother earth in a mixing bowl
Baking cookies in the sun
Clover garlands for our hair
We sing every song we know
Ask Linda to play the wedding march
And we'll pretend before you go.

 (chorus)

(3.) When our life is over
And our work on earth is done,
Then we'll trade that garland for a crown
For the Victory is Won!
We'll take the hand of Jesus
Crossing to the other side
There will be no more pretending
As He says, "Children, you are my My bride."

(chorus) And I'll walk you home
So you don't have to walk alone
Now this time will never end
You know you'll always be my friend
Yes, I'll walk you home today
And I'll walk you all the way
Kindred Spirits from the start
We're joined at the heart
Come, I'll walk you home

Pamela R. Blaine
Copyright,  November 1997
 

Dedicated to Suzanne 1948 -1998

Pamy and Suzy
 
 

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