Valerie's Coming Home

They packed away her cards and letters
Folded up her favourite sweaters
Handed you her wedding band that had not been off in 50 years

Took down all the photographs
Snapshot moments from the past
Boxed up all her memories and faded souvenirs

Nobody wants to see her leaving
Nobody wants to find her not at home
Nobody wants to say, "you should have seen her yesterday"
Everybody wants to see, to see her going home

We emptied out the odds and sods draw
Who'd have thought that there'd be no more
Need to clean the house, from top to toe and back again

All your dresses neatly hung up
Your old tea towel slowly rung out
Take the grandkids drawings down from off the kitchen wall

How many times have I opened up your window?
Because the room you lived in was too warm
How many times did you shout
'Oh close it Frank, you'll let the heat out'
Today there really is a chill
Blowing through the hallway of your home

Oh you and I together
We sheltered from the weather
Until the storm blew by
I heard you cry
Valerie, come back to me
Valerie, come back

That holiday in '68
The family standing by the gate
Of the cottage you could just afford for two weeks every June

Two have gone now from that frame
For the other three life's not the same
But every generation will still hold a part of you

There's a pile of mail stacked behind the front door
And a light that blinks, there are messages on the phone
From older sisters you didn't outlast
Well-wishers from the past
Who called to say they'd come around
Just as soon as you got home