seventy miles apart

times were hard

and friends were few

jobs were rare

employers insist you join the queue .

with ten childrens mouths to feed

and a brand new home to run

my parents prayed for a miracle

the good lord gave them one .

my dad heard of employment

though its seventy miles away

so he set off walking

he hopes to make it in two days .

on monday evening

my mums called round to mrs jones

my fathers on the telephone

spending the last coin that he owns .

he's got the job in the factory

and he'll sleep in a makeshift tent

until he earns enough to send home

money for food and rent .

i heard mum tell him she loved him

more than all the gold on earth

as my father whispered to her

she was all his life was worth .

there weretears streaming down her cheek

yet in her eyes i saw new hope

she thanked god for the miracle

her family would now cope .

we got through that fateful winter

thanks to the sacrifice my parents made

and for as long as i am living

the memory will never fade.

i know they loved each other

to the bottom of their hearts

and that love grew ever stronger

though they were seventy miles apart .