SUNSHINE ON MY SHOULDERS

“Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy. Sunshine in my eyes can make me cry. Sunshine on the water looks so lovely. Sunshine almost always makes me high.” John Denver wrote Sunshine On My Shoulders in 1971 long before I started my own family… and I’m sure he never dreamed the effect his song would have on me. When our children were young it was my habit to wake up before the sun and look in on them before setting off on an early morning run. And now, in retirement, though it’s just Deborah and me…I still wake up before the sun and look in on her before, with my bad knees, I go for a morning walk…instead of run. From the time we were all younger…to now…when we are older when I looked in…I would grab a little of their sunshine…and put it on my shoulders. You see, when you wake up before the sun begins to illuminate the day It’s nice to have a little of their sunshine on my shoulders to help brighten up the way. And since their sunlight shines forever…now that I am older… just the thought of them lifts their sunshine from my heart and sets it on my shoulders. And many is the morning when their light shines directly in my eyes… which can sometimes make me cry…and always makes me high. And any day I carry their sunshine on my shoulders I wish for them a day…just like that day…. and I hope when they carry my sunshine on their shoulders… It makes them feel the same way.