(Barry Dean)



Moving Oleta was the hardest thing he'd done

The nurses saw an old woman crying, but he saw the love of his life

She don't know where she is, but she knows this isn't home

Love is a hard, hard road



He met her in the summer of '37

In a brush harbor down on the Rush Creek shore

He loved her black hair and the mischief in her smile

But she won him with her eyes

All the years and children grow

He still sees her the same

Love is a hard, hard road



He woke up each morning and drove into town

He stayed all day 'till her dinner came

Then he took her to her room, leaned on her wheelchair like a walker

And covered her with a quilt that she made

Only God and a couple of nurses helped the old man shoulder the load

Love is a hard, hard road



And he said

They tell me this is all that's left

Say this hell on earth is best

I list all those reasons and I still don't understand it

He cursed his body old and weak

Tears of failure burned his cheek

And he said

Oh, don't you know I prayed to die before this day

Love is a hard, hard road



There's a shadow much darker than the valley of death

When you fear the reaper might not come today

They line 'em up in La-z-boys out in the sunroom

The TV keeps the quiet away

She can't recall his name

And she's the only love he's known

Love is a hard, hard road

Love is a hard road



Moving Oleta was the hardest thing he'd done