Happy Birthday!!

She grew up a valley girl, hardly a worry on her mind

Met a Michigan man, handsome and kind

Her birthdays have come every June 9 since 1953

Had just 19 before she added her first kid to the family tree

"Why not four more?" she said to Hank.

“Sure, Mary, we'll have the Lord to thank.”

She left California and headed to Clare

Tears flowed but she persevered there

After nights in Yosemite, the beach and Mexico

She must have wondered "what’s this white stuff, snow?"

Trips to Spring Hill, the West Coast, the Beaverton tavern

Hours on road trips in a gray station wagon

The pets included Chi-Chi, Autumn and Sunshine

She witnessed her kids succeed in the Jack Pine

First the farm and on to Schoolcrest

Then to the woods where her husband shoots pests

She’s a dedicated member at First Baptist

At the gates of heaven, she'll surely past the test

She learned to love from a woman named Jereann

It's the unconditional kind, the only she understands

To see her is to witness four-feet-eleven

But to see her heart, she stands over seven

She’s matriarch of a growing group of children

There are many Taits, and more than one Herman

Ask anyone of them and they’ll say she’s a great mum

She’s the Queen of this particular kingdom

So Happy Birthday Mary Tait

For our next moment together, we just can’t wait.