Dancing, dancing, dancing on legs that are straight and long,
I can hear him singing with a voice that is pure and strong;
The Gates of Heaven have opened and Sonny has come home
To walk with his Lord forever, where he has always belonged.
He was born not perfect in our sight, twisted and halt from the start.
Some who thought they were wise suggested a special home would be smart.
But Sonny was embraced by his family, by sisters who were always there;
He wasn’t tucked away in some corner, hidden and shunned in his chair.
He never ran or danced in this life; he never played football or hit a home run;
He never did a lot of things we take for granted; but Sonny was always SOMEONE.
He was out and about in the home town, appearing at many an affair;
From parades to the paving of sidewalks, look around and Sonny was there.
At the start he would shove that old wheeled chair his mother had labored to make
Backwards through house and on sidewalks, looking over his shoulder to navigate.
Then modern technology and helping hands intervened to allow Sonny to move
Forwards instead of backwards in the electric chair he came to love.
Constrained only by the strength of the battery Sonny would wander the streets
In his marvelous electric wheelchair loaded with umbrella, drinks, and treats.
Weather was the only curtailment, along with his sisters’ decrees,
That limited Sonny’s excursions along those McMechen streets.
Winter meant Sonny stayed indoors when the weather got messy and cold,
But Sonny had loads of companions and TV shows that never seemed old.
Spring, summer, and fall he would make the break and escape womanly care for a time.
He was safe on the streets of McMechen but his sisters never knew what they’d find.
He carried the mailbag for the mailman; Lou was his friend for so many years.
They paved an alley for Sonny so he could visit his friend Ed without fears.
Sonny was part of the city and part of more than one church, too.
There were always strong arms to lift him and put his chair alongside a pew.
So Sonny and his sisters grew older, and the four sisters were now down to two.
Hard choices were made by the family and Sonny’s wandering days were through.
But he found new friends in the Care home and for a time was joined by sister Ruth.
Sonny had new halls to wander, new faces, new women, new foods.
As in every life there were good times and bad;
There were struggles, joys, laughter and tears.
But this last little boy of the Walton’s
Fully lived every one of his seventy-eight years.
Dancing, dancing, dancing on legs that are straight and long,
I can hear him singing with a voice that is pure and strong;
The Gates of Heaven have opened and Sonny has come home
To walk with his Lord forever, where he has always belonged.
© 2011 M. C. MacFadyen
In memory and celebration of my uncle,
Charles E. “Sonny” Walton, Jr.
September 27, 1932 – January 29, 2011
