Fever

He had the fever all his life
Since he was a little kid
Pulling rocks out of the ground
That was some hard work that he did
There was no doctor who could cure
The passion in his soul
My grandpa fed his family
Digging hard rock gold

From the fever in his heart
To the muscle in his arms
Nothing that he ever did
Did another person harm
If you walked by his claim today
With the works all overgrown
That this was my grandpa’s mine
Is something you’d have never known

She loved him nearly all her life
But it was shorter than they planned
When the twins were one year old
The fever took her by the hand
There was no doctor who could cure
The pneumonia back then
Grandpa chiseled on her stone
“Here a day, then gone again”

But she left him with the strength
To raise six children on his own
He kept working on his claim
Did his best to make a home
He never married again
Though he lived for ninety years
Love that both takes and gives
Will last much longer than our tears