“Light” and “Moon” those were our son and daughter’s very first words, respectively. So what were your child’s/children’s first words? I’ll bet, like my dear wife (and mother of our children), you warmly remember them; and here’s an especial salutation to you mothers, and a light hearted wish for a very Happy Mother’s Day.

Today’s selection by Broadway composer/musicologist Maury Yeston and Broadway lyricist/actress, Christine Andreas was chosen especially for you, as performed by Mimi Bessette…

Wha’? Never heard of her?  Well then, here’s a snippet from her resume:  “Dark Brown Hair, Dark Brown Eyes, 5’4”, 125 lbs., SAG – AFTRE – AEA, Plays Piano, Guitar, Mandolin, Dulcimer, Double Bass & Cello; Fencing & Unarmed Combat (American & British Certification with honors), Tennis, Swimming, Ice Skating, Horseback Riding, Dialects & Munchkin voices.”

Now that you’re more familiar with Mimi I can tell you that “New Words” was included on her album, “Lullabies of Broadway” which won the Parent’s Choice Award for Best Children’s Album of 1991 (coincidentally the same year our son was born). But before we get to the “New Words” here are a few old ones:

“Everyone can keep house better than her mother, till she trieth.”  ~ Thomas Fuller

“Youth fades; love droops, the leaves of friendship fall; A mother’s secret hope outlives them all.”  ~ Oliver Wendell Holmes

“For the hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world.” ~ William Ross Wallace

“What is Home without at Mother?” ~ Alice Hawthorne

“I want a girl just like the girl that married dear old dad” ~ William Dillon

“Her children arise up and call her blessed.” ~ Proverbs 31:28

LISTEN TO TODAY’S SELECTION – Mother’s Day, 13 May

NEW WORDS

Look up there, high above us

In a sky of blackest silk

See how round, like a cookie

See how white, as white as milk

Call it the moon, my son, say “moon”

Sounds like your spoon, my son, can you say it

New word today, say “moon”

Near the moon, brightly turning

See the shining sparks of light

Each one new, each one burning

Through the darkness of the night

We call them stars, my son, say “stars”

That one is Mars, my son, can you say it

New word today, say “stars”

As they blink all around us

Playing starry-eyed games

Who would think it astounds us

Simply naming their names

Turn your eyes from the skies now

Turn around and look at me

There’s a light in my eyes now

And a word for what you see

We call it love, my son, say “love”

So hard to say, my son, it gets harder

New words today, we’ll learn to say

Learn moon, learn stars, learn love