SO WRITE ME DOWN A COUNTRY SONG

I was sitting in my seat when I saw the old man and his dog board the plane. Before they were half way down the aisle I knew they would be my companions during this flight.

"Mind if we join you?" he asked. I had the seat on the aisle and gathered my notes I had spread out in the middle seat.

Not at all" I said. "Welcome aboard!" I stood and stepped into the aisle so they might get to their seats more easily. The old man sat down in the middle and the dog hopped into the seat next to the window.

I finished writing some more verse while singing a few lines to myself to see if it was what I wanted. As I was putting my yellow pad away the old man turned and asked. "Are you going all the way to Nashville?"

I told the old man that I was and introduced myself. His name was Wallace and he was also going to Nashville.

"You know Wallace, you’re the first blind man I have ever seen on a plane. How do you get around so easily?" I asked.

Wallace told me that he worked regularly and flew on planes several times each week. He was a Public Relations man for a leading seeing eye school for dogs. He would visit with various men’s clubs throughout the country and keep them informed and up to date on the fine work for the blind that their contributions were continuously supporting. The dogs were furnished to the blind recipients at absolutely no cost.

He went on to say the particular school which he represented, was the largest in the country. It was started in the late 1930’s by some members of a men’s club. They struggled for several years and were then given a large donation by the Dodge brothers of automobile fame. This endowment and the subsequent contributions has sustained their charitable efforts ever since.

Wallace advised me that the dog was his constant companion. Where ever he went the dog went and they were never separated. He loved the dog dearly and knew he would have to give him up some day. The average serviceable life of each seeing eye dog is only eight and one half years. He had been blind for forty years and had been the recipient of several dogs over the years. He said that he had learned to control his emotions and had conditioned himself to bear the loss.

I think he got the impression that I was a country singer of some sort and I really didn’t make an effort to correct him.

He was one of the happiest individuals I have ever met. When we arrived in Nashville he wanted to bet me that he could get around the country on airplanes better than I could. I didn’t take him up on this proposed wager.

An airline attendant met him at the door. He threw up his hand, waved goodbye and disappeared into the terminal leaving an indelible impression on my heart and on my mind.

Every time I board a plane I look for Wallace and his faithful companion!

We were waiting on the runway
On our way to Nashville town
When he asked me to move over
And sat his tired old body down.
I was humming out a brand new tune
Rolling ‘round within my head
When he tapped his cane to my new beat
And this is what he said.

"Write me down a country song
And play it on TV.
Tell ‘em ‘bout the things I do,
Though I’m blind and cannot see.
Throw in a lot of color,
But cover up the gray.
Just tell ‘em ‘bout the good things
That touches me each day!"

"Tell ‘em every man’s a poet,
In his own time and space!
That every man’s a runner,
In life’s long and crucial race!
Tell ‘em every man’s a lover
Beneath a moonlit magic beam!
And that every man’s a dreamer
With his own sweet special dream!"

Tell ‘em magic words of music
And relate them in a rhyme.
The beauty of each circumstance
As they mellow into wine!
The joy of each moment spent
As they ease the pain and strife.
Tell ‘em never lose their humor, son
‘Tis the balance wheel of life!"

We were cruising over Memphis,
I could see way down below
The patch work quilt of mother earth
And the colors seemed to glow.
In the beauty of the moment,
A strange thought came to me
With a mysterious touch of humor,
Could that blind man really see?

I got out a piece of paper
And I wrote down what he’d said.
I penned out all the clear sweet notes,
Spinning ‘round within my head!
I turned around so I could see
If he was buckled in his seat
When he changes some words to his request
As he sang to my new beat!

"Son, write us down a country song
To be played on TV!
Tell ‘em ‘bout the things we’ve done
For all the world to see.
Throw in a lot of color
And throw out all the gray.
Just tell ‘em ‘bout the good things
That we see every day!"