Been About Three Years Today, Guess It's Time for Me To Run Away

I'm not sure I can say it more eloquently than I did here, here or here - so if you have the time, please click through and read about a very special man - my dad.  Three years ago today we lost him and it hasn't got much easier.  Well, that's not true - I don't cry every day - but sometimes the pain takes me by such surprise that I have to catch my breath to make sure my heart is not literally breaking.

He was an amazing man.

He was loving and devout and respected. He was the kind of man that everyone loved - and everyone told me how lucky I was to have him as a dad.  And the great thing? Was that I knew it at the time.  I appreciated him while he was alive and for that I'm thankful.  I have no regrets.

Well, I have one big one and that's that I wasn't there when he died.  But I can't change that.  So in the meantime, enjoy the lyrics to the song that accompanied us when my dad first taught me how to dance - I remember the black velvet dress and matching hair band that I was wearing as my mary janes rested upon his feet - it also gave rise to the name of this blog, and was rejected summarily by my mom and wedding planner as a father/daughter dance at my wedding!

Tied Up With a Black Velvet Band
Well, in a neat little town they call Belfast, apprentice to trade I was bound

Many an hours sweet happiness, have I spent in that neat little town
A sad misfortune came over me, which caused me to stray from the land
Far away from my friends and relations, betrayed by the black velvet band

Her eyes they shone like diamonds
I thought her the queen of the land
And her hair it hung over her shoulder
Tied up with a black velvet band

I took a stroll down Broadway, meaning not long for to stay
When who should I meet but this pretty fair maid comes a tripping along the highway
She was both fair and handsome, her neck it was just like a swans
And her hair it hung over her shoulder, tied up with a black velvet band

Her eyes they shone like diamonds
I thought her the queen of the land
And her hair it hung over her shoulder
Tied up with a black velvet band

I took a stroll with this pretty fair maid, and a gentleman passing us by
Well I knew she meant the doing of him, by the look in her roguish black eye
A gold watch she took from his pocket and placed it right in to my hand
And the very first thing that I said was bad luck to the black velvet band

Her eyes they shone like diamonds
I thought her the queen of the land
And her hair it hung over her shoulder
Tied up with a black velvet band

Before the judge and the jury, next morning I had to appear
The judge he says to me: "Young man, your case it is proven clear
We'll give you seven years penal servitude, to be spent faraway from the land
Far away from your friends and companions, betrayed by the black velvet band"

Her eyes they shone like diamonds
I thought her the queen of the land
And her hair it hung over her shoulder
Tied up with a black velvet band

So come all you jolly young fellows a warning take by me
When you are out on the town me lads, beware of them pretty colleens
For they feed you with strong drink, "Oh yeah", 'til you are unable to stand
And the very next thing that you'll know is you've landed in Van Diemens Land

Her eyes they shone like diamonds
I thought her the queen of the land
And her hair it hung over her shoulder
Tied up with a black velvet band