Who's Gonna Know?

With so many children in the Patriquin family, there's no chance that I would ever actually be the only one with memories of my Grandparents. But still, my heart breaks thinking of the times that the three of us had, times that now only exist in my memory.

I have missed my Grandmother since she left us in 1995. And now, my Grandfather is gone. And this world will never feel the same for me.

Who's Gonna Know?

by Kathy Mattea

On the top of my desk mid the clutter and dust

Sits an old eight by ten black and white

It's one of my favorite pictures of us

I'll carry with me all my life

I must have been about five or six

Mom's hair was still brown and dad's was still thick

But to look at it now sometimes I get scared

To think that someday they might not be there

Cause who's gonna know but me who'll help me recall those small memories

When I'm all that's left of this family of three who's gonna know but me

Down in the cellar under the steps

Sits an old box of junk that I've saved

Newspaper clippings letters and cards

Even some code-a-phone tapes

Slices of life I can hold in my hand

And show to my kids so they might understand

In those years to come when they ask me some night

What grandma and grandpa used to be like

Cause who's gonna know but me...

If life were a video I could rewind

I'd go back and slow down each moment in time

Then I'd disconnect the fast forward button

So I'd have forever to tell 'em I love 'em

The older I get I can't get enough of 'em

Cause who's gonna know but me...