For My Uncle Al's Birthday, 1981

Written for my Uncle Al Preskill’s birthday 4-23-81

You showed us how to write a line with grace and infinite finesse,

A well-placed word, an accent fine, just long enough; no more, no less!

Sonnets, songs and ballads flowed from your heart and from your pen,

With all the elegance you showed in all you did, time and again!

Sing Mikado?  All the roles?  Or ditties back to World War One?

No audience but us; no goals but endless nights of warmth and fun.

Your life excelled in all it’s parts; husband, father, uncle, friend,

And intellect and homely arts found their satisfying blend.

You thought three score and ten was time to seat yourself upon a laurel?

Forget that prickly seat tonight; such relaxation is immoral!

You’ve been our teacher by example of life abundant with élan,

These seventy are just a sample, on to the real stuff of your plan!

Publish your collected works? That bakery that the North Shore lacks? 

Write a book of walking tours and wildlife seen along the tracks?

San Diego? Boston? or Champaign?  Be a modern Coronado?

Invent new ways (we won’t complain) to serve up lots of avocado?

Like Karsh of Highland Park display new pictures of Felisa and Adam,

And tell us of the tricks they played when you and Frances baby-sat ‘em!

You’ve got a lot of things to do, so one more line, and lets’ get on:

Our love and kisses straight to you, from Joan and Ed and Dan and John!

Happy Birthday Uncle Al !!!!!

Mom and Dad's 50th Anniversary

Lyrics I wrote for Dad and Mom's 50th Anniversary party in Sarasota, Florida, February 16, 1980

Three Songs

Tune: Oklahoma!   Lyrics by Joan Levin

Sarasota! where the surf comes crashing to the shore!
Here we'll sing and fête, and celebrate,
And wish Abe and Esther fifty more!
Sarasota! It's a long long way from Lake Shore Drive!
Where the Winter Wīnd is so unkind,
That it sometimes makes you take a dive!
So lets drink to the sea and the sun!
And wish Esther and Abe years of fun!
And when we say; Three cheers, hip hip hooray!
We're only saying; You're doing fine, Abe and Esther, 
Abe and Esther, OK!  

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Tune: Every Day is Ladies Day with Me by Victor Herbert
Lyrics: Joan Levin

Every day is Esther's day with Abe,
Every day is Abe's day with Es,
And the days must all be nifty,
For they count the years to fifty,
And they always seem to have a wink or smile,
The clever darlings!
Well it hardly seems so very long ago, 
But here we are to catch the golden gleam!
And we're glad they found their fun,
Spending all their time with one,
'Cause in any league they are a winning team!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tune:It was a Very Good Year
Lyrics: Joan Levin

Nineteen Thirty was a very good year, 

She sought her Ph.B., a quaint old degree, from the U. of C.

And she laid down the rule at the Emmett School, 

It was a very good year!

Nineteen Thirty was a very good year, 

Where'e'r he'd steer his car, near or far, by compass or star, 

That car would still tool by the Emmett School,

It was a very good year!

Nineteen Thirty was a very good year, 

They sang those Showboat lines, and they both felt fine, 

And today they shine, so let's drink and dine, by every sign, this is a very good year!