The wind was picking up

as she led them from the store

They'd bought all of their groceries,

They had no room for more

Young Willa and her sisters three

Looked over their short list

They had to check and check again

To see just what they'd missed

Willa led them home

Before the hail and rain came down

They would batten down the hatches

Before the storm battered the town

Her father was out working

And would not be home in time

To see that they were all in safe

To most, that was a crime

But, Willa took the girls inside

And kept them safe and warm

She made them all hot chocolate

To distract them from the storm

See, Willa was fourteen years old

A child too you see

But to her sisters, she had another role

That's not yet plain to see

Their mother left five years back

To find a better life

She was a failure as a mother

And was useless as a wife

So Willa stepped on up

And she took care of the young brood

While her father worked in Lansing

Making money for their food

Her friends did things without her

She was always taking care

Of her sisters and the household

For her mother wasn't there

She sacrificed her chldhood

While her friends went out with boys

She stayed home with her stisters

Doing homework,  making toys

There wasn't enough money

To buy toys for them all

But Willa made them something each

Something special, every fall

Her father tried as best he could

To get work close to town

But, there was no work out there

Since the Auto Plant closed down

So, Willa kept on working

As a mother to the girls

She would cook and do the cleaning

She would help with Lisa's curls

Her father knew her sacrifice

Was more than he could ask

But Willa, never shrugged it off

She was equal to the task

She knew that her poor father

Would never find another bride

For who would want a husband

With four children at his side?

So Willa, kept on working

And she put her dreams behind

And to childhoods joys and treasures

She pretended to be blind

Her sisters knew that Willa

was the rock that held them strong

And they did what Willa asked them

Whether right or whether wrong

Willa's friends moved on with out her

Some to college, some to work

But, this role that she had taken on

She'd never ever shirk

On Willa's eighteenth birthday

Her sisters gave her gifts

Some presents she would treasure

They would give her heart a lift

Her youngest sister Lisa

Gave her a brown teddy bear

It was old and slightly tattered

And it didn't have much hair

Willa held that Teddy Bear

For now it was her own

Lisa said "you love it"

"It's yours , now I have grown"

The second gift from sister Lee

Was a barbie with one eye

That didn't really open

And this made poor Willa cry

She gave this doll to lee when

She'd fallen down out back

She had got twenty stitches

And these were draen on the dolls leg

The next gift that she opened

From her her sister Kate

A small red book of poems

That her sister thought were great

The book was bound in leather

And it locked with a small hook

But it never really closed quite right

For the hook just never took

The final gift was from her Dad

In the box, a scarlett bow

And a note that said "I Love You"

"I just wanted you to know"

"I'm proud of the young woman"

"That you've grown into  alone"

"And I'm proud of how you've taken"

"And made this house a home"

Willa cried and took her presents

To her room, put them away

For today was almost over

Tomorrow was another day

She gathered up her sisters

And she ushered them to bed

For tomorrow's still tomorrow

That's what Willa always said

The day had been quite special

Made her forget all her strife

But tomorrow's still tomorrow

And we still must live our life.

I don't know where they are now

Or just where they do reside

But I do know that our Willa

Is one stronger than the tide

I'm sure that they are happy

And are proud from where they've come

Because of how poor Willa

Became their sister and their Mum.
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