Just A Teacher

"What do you know, it's Harold Brown.
It's been a long old time.
The way old buddies drift apart
It surely is a crime.
So what about those kids of yours?
I bet they've long since grown.
They were the best, but since they've left the nest
How far have they flown?"

"My daughter she's a lawyer,
And she works in real estate.
She lives down in Los Angeles
And business is going great.
My older boy he's a doctor
And here's a funny twist.
He always was a shy one
Now he's a gynecologist."

"But what about the youngest one
The brightest of the three?
I always felt that he'd succeed
In what he chose to be.
How come you haven't mentioned him?
Are you holding out on me?
I really felt that Tommy Brown
Would climb the highest tree."

"Oh Tommy; he's just a teacher
In a small Alberta town.
For every triple feature
You get someone who plays the clown.
He was offered success on a silvery plate
And he went and stared it down.
He just took a job and followed his fate
To a small Alberta town."

"So your daughter works in real estate
Selling condos to the rich.
And your doctor son he's a real wiz
At fixing that terrible itch.
And Tommy's found a little town
To make himself a niche.
You ask me who's successful?
Well, I can tell you which."

"For my grandson had a handicap
And it made him insecure.
And no special ed. psychologist
Could offer him a cure.
But then he got a teacher
By the name of Tommy Brown
Who got through to my grandson
And he turned his life around."

"So that's the way I heard about
Your unsuccessful one.
Helping out my grandson
Is not the only thing he's done.
He has a special way with kids
And of making learning fun.
When thirty children leave his class
They each feel number one!"

"So, Tommy, he's just a teacher
In a small Alberta Town.
It's him and it's teachers like him
That make the world go round.
He's got a pick-up truck and a trailer
For a couple of thousand down.
He's got the love of everybody
In that small Alberta town."

Martin Collis