Beth
& Ronnie @ Marbridge Villas in Austin, Texas. He used to use a
rope for his guitar strap, but someone was kind enough to buy him a real
strap!!
Yodeling in Heaven
A Collection of Beth Williams Songs
1.
Romans 8:28 ( New!)
2. Little Things You Do
3. Now ( Don't Look Back)
4. My God & I
5.
Rock of Ages
6. Ruby & John
7. I Sit & Ride
8. Send the Rain
9. Voices
10. Get up & Move Around
11. Just a Closer Walk with Thee
12. He Kissed Her Picture
13. Yodeling in Heaven ( New!)
THIS SONG ALSO ON:
"ONE EMPTY CHAIR"
Countin
Clouds
Lil' Things
You Do
Quitique
He Kissed
her Picture
Before
the First Ring
I Sit & Ride
Sam Will
Be Here Soon
My Baby
Don't Dance
Send the Rain
Get Up
& Move Around
One Empty
Chair
I sang ( and still sing) at Marbridge Villas in Austin, TX which is a home for mentally challenged adults, mostly older. Every Friday at 10:00, I'd have about 6 or 7 residents helping me lead the music by playing everything from air guitars, to pretend guitars. Ronnie had a real guitar, with old out of tune strings and a rope for a strap. There were usually about 40 - 50 residents sitting out front listening and participating in the "Keeping Time with Beth" music program.
This particular Friday, Ronnie hadn't shown up and I remember wondering where he was. Suddenly, right in the middle of "You are my Sunshine", he came whizzing by me, wearing his guitar and carrying an 8/10 picture in his hand. He ran to a table, hurriedly set the picture down, put himself in his best Elvis Presley stance, and sang the rest of "You are my Sunshine" with us. Only he was singing to the picture.
At the end of the song, he picked up the picture, ran over to me, held it out and said "My mother...I miss her". Then he said "Someday I be with her" and kissed her picture. I was stunned. You see, I kissed my mothers picture in private many times after we lost her to cancer in '93. Ronnie, in his innocence, kissed his mothers picture in public, unashamed, for all to see.
That very night I wrote this song, literally weeping the entire time. And for a long time after we recorded it, I cried every time I heard it. "My mother...I miss her..." This is one of my all time favorite songs, and like Ronnie, I know "Someday I be with her." Thanks for being such a blessing in my life Ronnie.
"But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus." 1 Thessalonians 5:3
HE
KISSED HER PICTURE
words & music by Beth Williams
Ronnie is fifty, or maybe he's
five
depends on who you're talking to
Lives in a home on the outskirts of town
where dreamers believe dreams come true
He strums his guitar so sweetly,
and though the strings were not in tune
He was playing for the love of his life,
the girl who hung the moon
CHORUS
Then he kissed her picture...said "my mother - I miss her"
Then he kissed her picture....said "someday I be with her"
Soft as angels whisper...he kissed her picture
Ronnie has good friends
he's made through the years
In that special home on the hill
As children they play
at being grown up all day
though they never hide how they feel
At night come the quiet shadows
down the hall looking in each room
And there by his bed in a frame -
the girl who hung the moon chorus
CHORUS
Then he kissed her picture...
said "my mother - I miss her"
Then he kissed her picture....
said "someday I be with her"
Soft as angels whisper...
he kissed her picture
Ronnie is fifty, or maybe
he's five
he might be a hundred & two
A vision of wisdom, the face of a fool
depends on who you're talking to
He believes love is forever
and nothings gonna change his mind ( change his mind)
he thinks the girl in the frame isn't gone
he's just a step behind