For Daddy, the moments we live for as parents, This Memory is For You

KC's new job comes with it's perks.

He was given a tip a couple months ago, 4 White Sox tickets.

I'm not a fan of baseball, so it became a perfect daddy moment.

He took the 3 oldest kids. They got there. And they were in the first row behind the dugout on the first base side  :)

They were in perfect alignment with the television camera when a left-handed batter was up to bat. KC could be seen in every shot, Cam about half the time and even the girls a few times.

I actually watched the entire game . . . that is, when there was a left-hander up to bat  :)

They had a great time. Cameron's biggest complaint was "I wanted to be way up high like in a roller coaster." He also wanted a game ball and screamed "I want a ball, I want a ball, I want a ball", but was slightly disappointed he didn't get one.

I promised him that if mommy and daddy took him back, we'd buy seats way up high. LOL

Before they left for the game, since it was a school night, I made them do their homework quickly.

I was helping Audrey get a couple of worksheets done, so Katie went to help Zoe print out a poem by Shel Silverstein. If you are unfamiliar with him, he wrote "Where the Sidewalk Ends", "A Light in the Attic", and "Falling Up".

I remember checking the books out from the library at her age. Big books filled with child appropriate poetry.

The poem that Katie and Zoe printed out however, was not, let's say, complete appropriate for a child's homework assignment.

Especially when that child is in the beginning of the second week at a new school, in front of kids that she has just met, and in front of a teacher that doesn't know that she is from a completely healthy and normal family.

Yes, my 10 year old little girl, stood in front of her class and read "A Boy Named Sue" by Shel Silverstien.

We only found out about this tonight because Zoe had a friend from her class eat dinner with us. They were giggling and she was talking about being embarassed and her poem being violent and the teacher saying "Wow Zoe, I didn't expect that from you".

KC asked what poem it was and she read the first line "Well, my daddy left home when I was three" and KC said "A Boy Named Sue"?!?!? And we both started laughing.

KC wanted to hear her read it, so she did, while I tried not to pee my pants! Seriously, I was crying when her and KC finished the poem.

The poem was made into a song sung by Johnny Cash.

And this is how it goes:

A Boy Named Sue by Shel Silverstein

Well, my daddy left home when I was three,
and he didn't leave much to Ma and me,
just this old guitar and a bottle of booze.
Now I don't blame him because he run and hid,
but the meanest thing that he ever did was
before he left he went and named me Sue.

Well, he must have thought it was quite a joke,
and it got lots of laughs from a lot of folks,
it seems I had to fight my whole life through.
Some gal would giggle and I'd get red
and some guy would laugh and I'd bust his head,
I tell you, life ain't easy for a boy named Sue.

Well, I grew up quick and I grew up mean.
My fist got hard and my wits got keen.
Roamed from town to town to hide my shame,
but I made me a vow to the moon and the stars,
I'd search the honky tonks and bars and kill
that man that gave me that awful name.

But it was Gatlinburg in mid July and I had
just hit town and my throat was dry.
I'd thought i'd stop and have myself a brew.
At an old saloon in a street of mud
and at a table dealing stud sat the dirty,
mangy dog that named me Sue.

Well, I knew that snake was my own sweet dad
from a worn-out picture that my mother had
and I knew the scar on his cheek and his evil eye.
He was big and bent and gray and old
and I looked at him and my blood ran cold,
and I said, "My name is Sue. How do you do?
Now you're gonna die." Yeah, that's what I told him.

Well, I hit him right between the eyes and he went down
but to my surprise he came up with a knife
and cut off a piece of my ear. But I busted a chair
right across his teeth. And we crashed through
the wall and into the street kicking and a-gouging
in the mud and the blood and the beer.

I tell you I've fought tougher men but I really can't remember when.
He kicked like a mule and bit like a crocodile.
I heard him laughin' and then I heard him cussin',
he went for his gun and I pulled mine first.
He stood there looking at me and I saw him smile.

And he said, "Son, this world is rough and if
a man's gonna make it, he's gotta be tough
and I knew I wouldn't be there to help you along.
So I gave you that name and I said 'Goodbye'.
I knew you'd have to get tough or die. And it's
that name that helped to make you strong."

Yeah, he said, "Now you have just fought one
helluva fight, and I know you hate me and you've
got the right to kill me now and I wouldn't blame you
if you do. But you ought to thank me
before I die for the gravel in your guts and the spit
in your eye because I'm the nut that named you Sue."
Yeah, what could I do? What could I do?

I got all choked up and I threw down my gun,
called him pa and he called me a son,
and I came away with a different point of view
and I think about him now and then.
Every time I tried, every time I win and if I
ever have a son I think I am gonna name him
Bill or George - anything but Sue.

And yes, she stood up in front of her class and read it in it's entirety, as the class roared in laughter.

And yes, she has learned that she must read something before presenting it to her class.

And yes, I have learned not to trust my sister helping my children with their homework  :)

Really Katie, thank you, because now every time I hear that song, I will laugh at the picture in my head of Zoe reciting it to a 5th grade classroom . . . and you should have seen the glowing smile on KC's face while reading it with her.

One of his favorite songs just got better  :)

She will never live this one down . . .