THE CANDY STORE
When I was a little girl of four,
we lived above a candy store
or maybe it was an ice cream parlor
where Mommy worked behind the counter.
She was so pretty and cheerful all day
while serving up ice cream and sorbet,
and if I promised not to stray,
I could watch from the booth in the corner.
When I was six, Mom would send me to buy
rolls or buns or a tasty pie;
they’d say “sweets for the sweet” at the bakery
and then offer me a sugar cookie.
I felt like the luckiest girl in the world
surrounded by all those sweets and goodies,
so I cried when I heard my dad say,
“We must move to an apartment in the city."
Mom had a way of cheering me up
when something made me sad,
so she lifted me up on her lap, gave me a hug, and said: “Mitzi, I love you and Daddy loves you,
and we all love each other,
so everything will be all right
because we’ll be together."
One sunny day we rode on the bus
to the place where we would live;
then we walked to the big apartment house
that was built on the side of a hill.
Mom said that on the day we move,
they would give me a brand new doll and a pair of roller skates
so I could skate down the hill.
I saw children playing in the park next door
and--down on the corner--a candy store,
so when Dad said, “What is your wish, Mitzi Mouse?” I said, “I wish to move to the apartment house.”
THE DAY WE MOVED
On the day that we moved,
when Dad opened the door,
there was my new doll sitting right on the floor.
Grandpa stepped in and said with a grin,
"Let's take your doll over to my house, Mouse."
“Grandpa, I'm not Mouse, I'm Mama Bear,
and my doll here is Baby Bear.”
Grandpa said, "Ho, ho, you must be Pinocchio;
see what a long nose you've got there."
Then Daddy said, "Whoever she is,
could you take her away?
If she stays, she'll be in the way, and we surely won't get moved today."
"Mitzi, let's go over to Grandma's house,
and see if the big bad wolf has been there."
“Oh, Grandpa, it's Goldilocks' turn today, and
we have to see if she's been sitting in your chair.”
Grandma smiled at my look of surprise
when we walked into the room;
for sitting there next to Grandpa's chair
was a new rocking chair for Mama Bear
and a wee little chair for Baby Bear.
"Grandpa made your chairs himself,
and look what I have for you, Mitzi."
Grandma had made two green and white dresses
with puffy sleeves and pink sashes, for me and my doll, Susie Betsy.
After lunch I rocked Susie to sleep,
and then we both took a nap,
while Grandpa worked on his 1000-piece puzzle and Grandma just sat and relaxed.
We met Mom and Dad at Harry’s Diner
and had turkey dinner and pie a la mode,
and it certainly was something like Christmas--
for me--the day that we moved.
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