We Love You Lucy Lou!, by Amy Venini

Ever since before she could walk,
Why even before she had learned to talk,
Lucy Lou hated things that were strange and were new,
And she expressed this displeasure the older she grew.

When she was quite small and just barely two,
She would cry until her face was blue!
When she was older, but not even four,
She’d stamp her feet and slam the door!

One day her Mother had a new face,
Where her eyes had been, glasses were in their place!
Crying, Lucy Lou pushed her Mother away, and said,
“You cannot read stories tonight to me in bed!”

“I will miss that, said Mother, we have such fun when I do,”
Then she tucked her in tight, saying, “I love you, Lucy Lou.”

When Lucy Lou started school, she was just under five,
But she refused to go there, when Mother was scheduled to drive.
“Please Mother! Dry your hair, before we get in the car!”
“Why how silly!” said Mother, “when I’m not going that far!”

“But your hair makes you look, just like a WET RAT!!
Oh Mother, I’m begging you! Please wear a hat!”
However, Lucy’s friends didn’t care about Mother’s wet hair,
They just liked her ghost stories, because they loved a good scare!

If it were just her wet hair, perhaps Lucy could cope,
But Mother didn’t apply makeup, after water and soap.
Her pretty, young, teacher wore lipstick, mascara, and three shades of blush!
But all mother would say is “It’s late and I’m in a RUSH!”

Then Mother would drag her to the classroom, and hug her and say,
“My! What a lot of fun, you most certainly will have today!”
“There’s so much in this classroom, to learn and to do!
Goodbye Lucy Lou, and don’t forget, how much I love you!”

Lucy’s Father, too, made her cringe, and look for places to hide,
When he sang Italian opera, with his mouth gaping wide!
He sang loudly, when they pulled pasta through a machine, side by side,
Even though Lucy’s eyes rolled back in her head, and she sighed.

“Oh Mother!” cried Lucy, “Can’t you make him stop singing this song?”
But that is just when her Mother, would start singing along!
At night, when her father tucked her tight into bed,
He’d say “ I love you,” in two languages, and kiss the top of her head.

Lucy Lou had relatives, in not one, but two nations,
And often flew by herself, on long summer vacations!
She’d fly to Denver, Milan, Arizona, and Rome,
And found out how much fun it was, leaving her parents at home!

She ordered sodas and pretzels, whenever she pleased, on the plane,
And if the ride became bumpy, she’d call the Air Marshall to complain.
She asked for slippers, two pillows, and an eye mask to relax,
Then turned on all the lights, T.V., and make her seat go way back.

If the airline lost her luggage, she’d tell them a thing or two!
Then call her parents long distance, but all they’d say was “We love you!”
When they traveled all together, and things started to go wrong,
Lucy’s mother would just laugh, and make up a silly song.

One night in Rome, as the sun was setting in the sky,
Lights switched on, flooding the Colosseum they walked by.
When suddenly, on such a romantic summer night,
Little Lucy Lou began to argue, fuss and fight!

She was tired, hungry, cranky, to all it was apparent,
But, unwisely, Lucy Lou, chose to nag a weary parent.
And, so, imagine if you will, on such a sacred spot,
Lucy Lou and Mother, for the very first time FOUGHT!

“I don’t like it!” Lucy said, “when you speak in foreign tongues!
Stop It Mother ! You know I HATE it, when that’s done!”
Then Lucy’s Mother turned to her, but Mother did not say,
“I am sorry Lucy Lou, that you are sad today.”

Nor did she say, in her usual, cheerful way,
“Why don’t we try, instead, to have some fun and play?”
Oh no! Her Mother did not even look the same!
Instead, out of her mouth, that day, this came:

“I WILL SPEAK IN ANY TONGUE I WISH!
AND I WILL EAT FROM EVERY FOREIGN DISH!
AND I WILL WEAR MY HAIR UP IN A BUN!
AND I WILL STARE INTO THE SUN!”

“AND I WILL BUY THE CLOTHES I WANT TO WEAR,
AND I WILL NEVER, EVER, DYE MY GREY HAIR!”
And then a great silence fell upon that small crowd,
Since there was really nothing left, to be said out loud.

Quickly, Mother turned, and started off to walk,
And the rest of them followed, too scared to talk.
She crossed over the street, to sit at a busy outdoor café,
Then ordered two espresso, and one strawberry frappe.

Of course, no one could expect, just what happened next.
It wasn’t Lucy’s fault the straw was straight, and was not flexed.
The frappe just got away, and headed straight for Mother’s chair,
And landed right on top of her, and dripped all over her long hair.

Lucy’s eyes grew wide, to see her Mother covered in Frappe,
As she waited very quietly, to hear just what she had to say.
Mother’s mouth began to quiver, not with anger, or with hate,
Instead, Mother started laughing to find herself in such a state!

“Oh, Lucy! Who in their right mind, can stay mad at you!
Life would be so boring, without the scrapes you get into!
If we didn’t have you to love, what would Father and I do?”
“I‘m not sure,” said Lucy Lou, “but I know I love you, too!”