Growing Pains

(Written in 1970 when I was a junior in high school) Kyle’s only three and quite the tyke And he wants to ride a two wheel bike But his mom and dad say he’s too small And they’re afraid that he might fall Now on his cheek a tear-track’s stain He’s suffering from growing pains Jill’s just thirteen and she can’t wait ‘Til she goes out on her first date She finds it hard to bite her tongue When her parents say she’s still too young She feels this treatment is inhumane She’s suffering from growing pains At twenty-four Paul’s a broken man He went to college with big plans ‘Til he gave in to that young girl’s charms And she stuck a needle into his arm Now his plans revolve around cocaine He’s suffering from growing pains She’s thirty-five and should have it all Because Erin was always the belle of the ball But four kids and a job have taken their toll And now she is feeling far beyond old She once was a beauty but now she’s just plain She’s suffering from growing pains He’s forty-one and Bill had success But now his life is a real mess He thought to be rich, but he hadn’t figured That he’d end up married to a gold digger He has everything to lose and nothing to gain He’s suffering from growing pains Just fifty-six and in Jean’s once sharp mind Her thoughts and dreams are so intertwined That she doesn’t know which ones are real Or what emotions she should feel The doctor’s say she’s quite insane She’s suffering from growing pains Sixty years have now come and gone And Bob sits staring at his lawn He once took great care to keep it neat Now it hurts too much to be on his feet And he tries so hard to not complain He’s suffering from growing pains She’s seventy-one and Laura finds Herself alone again in time She’s lost her husband of some fifty years And now she has nothing but her tears She feels her heart has split in twain She’s suffering from growing pains At eighty-seven, Ed looks out His window and wonders what life’s all about Everyone he knew is gone And he dreads facing another dawn Now the organ plays a sad refrain He’s suffered life’s final growing pain