Fourteen Inches of Headroom
Verse 1
Well I married a girl with a laugh like a bell,
On a boat so small you could not stand up straight,
Fourteen inches of headroom and a lifetime to spend,
And I knew right then I'd found my fate.
Verse 2
She never asked for palaces, for silver or for gold,
Just gave her heart to little ones, a hundred-fold,
They call her Oma now, from here to far away,
Every child she's held remembers her today.
Chorus
So raise a glass to PJ, the finest wife I've known,
Who built a life of love from a home so small it shone,
Seventy-two years young and the fire's still bright,
Fourteen inches of headroom, but she gave the world its light!
Verse 3
Through the rain and through the sunshine, through the tide both low and high,
She's been my compass, she's been my harbor, she's been my Southeast sky,
And every little one she's taught to count and sing and grow,
Carries a piece of PJ wherever they go.
Chorus
So raise a glass to PJ, the finest wife I've known,
Who built a life of love from a home so small it shone,
Seventy-two years young and the fire's still bright,
Fourteen inches of headroom, but she gave the world its light!
Bridge
No mansion ever held us the way that small boat did,
Two hearts, one cramped cabin, and everything it hid —
A love too big to measure, in a space too small to stand,
That's the story of PJ, that's the woman, that's my hand.
Final Chorus
So raise a glass to PJ, my Oma, my delight,
Seventy-two years of loving, and every one done right,
From that boat with fourteen inches to a life so wide and free —
Happy birthday to my darling, the whole world's Oma — and mine, especially!