Why He Stays

from the 1960s - Why does he stay here? Doesn’t he know there are far better climes than his own? Half the year blinded by blizzards and darkness, and yet, he remains…all alone! Surely he knows there is easier living but only a day’s ride away… But here in this wilderness…all by himself…is still where he chooses to stay! Why does he stay here? I’ll tell you why. There’s something about it he loves. There, by his bed, are the haunting reminders…the two pairs of boots…and the gloves. He and his wife and his son…like the others…came here to search for the gold. Thousands of like-minded dreamers would struggle, and many gave in to the cold. Many men lost every penny they had to the lure of the glittering stone, But this poor old guy lost his wife and his child…the only two loves he had known. During a blizzard, unlike any other, a storm that took hundreds of lives, Many a wife lost her husband that night…and many young husbands - their wives. Winds that would rip away windows and doors would tear through his gold-miner’s shack, Forcing his family to flee for their lives…he’s praying they’ll find their way back. And every so often…just before storms…he hitches his dogs to a sled, And searches for hours, rejecting the prospect that both of his loved ones are dead. Ask him how long he will stay…he just smiles…but shows by the look in his eyes That he’ll stick around ‘til his fam’ly is found…and search…if he must…‘til he dies!