I. O. U. - Jimmy Dean

You know most people look through their wallets or their pocketbooks

And way down at the bottom Past the credit cards and baby pictures, greenstamps,

you usually find a little old dog eared piece poetry

I was cleaning out my wallet the other day and I ran across a whole bunch of I.

O.U.'s some of them thirty years overdue.

Funny thing is that all these I.O.U.

's are owed to one person, and I kinda feel like right now might be a pretty

good time for an accounting

Mom, you listenin?

Mom, I owe you for so many things, a lot of services, like night watchman for

instance, for lying awake nights listening for coughs, cries, creaking

floorboards and me coming in too late.

You had the eye of an eagle,

the roar of a lion, but you always had a heart as big as a house

I owe you for services as a short order cook, chef, baker, for making sirloin

out of hamburger, turkey out of tuna fish and two big ol' strapping boys out of

leftovers

I owe you for cleaning services, for the daily scrubbing of face and ears all

work done by hand and for the frequent dusting of a small boys pants to try to

make sure that he led a spotless life and for washing and ironing,

no laundry could ever do.

For drying the tears of childhood and for Ironing

out the problems of growing up

I owe you for servics as a bodyguard, for protecting me from the terrors of

thunderstorms and nightmares ha, and too many green apples

And Lord knows I owe you for medical attention, for nursing me through measles,

mumps, bruises, bumps, splinters and spring fever

And let’s not forget medical advise either, Oh, no

Important things like ha ha, don’t scratching it or it won’t get well

If you cross your eyes they’re gonna stick like that And probably ah,

most Important of all was, be sure you got on clean underwear boy,

in case you’re in an accident

And I owe you for veterinarian services, for feeding every lost dog that I

dragged home at the end of the rope and for healing the pains of puppy love

And I owe you for entertainment, entertainment that kept the household going

during some pretty tough times, for wonderful productions at Christmas,

4th of July and birthdays, and for making make believe come true on a very

limited budget

I owe you for construction work, for building kites, confidence,

hopes and dreams and somehow you made em all touch the sky

And for cementing a family together so it would stand the worst kinds of shocks

and blows and for laying down a good strong foundation to build a life on

I owe you for carrying charges, for carrying me on your books for the

necessities of life that a growing boy just gotta have.

Things like, a oh,

a pair of high top boots with a little pocket on the side for a jackknife

And one thing, Mom, I will never ever forget when there were two pieces of

apple pie left and three hungry people I noticed that you were the one who

suddenly decided that you really didn’t like apple pie in the 1st place

These are just a very few of the things for which payment is long overdue,

the person I owe em to worked very cheap

She managed by simply doing without a whole lotta things that she needed herself

My I.O.U.'s add up to much more than I could ever hope to repay

But you know the nicest thing about it all is that, I know that she’ll mark the

entire bill paid in full for just one kiss and four little words

Mom, I love you