Billabong and Paris Blues

A purple dress and new black shoes

Concert tickets in one hand

Drumsticks from her boyfriend’s band

Red-blond hair and warm white smile

Independence marks her style

A child’s size, a woman’s heart

A sense and wit both razor sharp

A job, a car, a diamond ring

Dreams of what her life might bring

Schoolgirl days and fast food nights

A spirit unafraid of heights

Her gaze sees far beyond her years

Blind takers force her close to tears

A giver with a host of friends

To kick back with her on weekends

She strolls the boardwalk – far from care

Hears last night’s music in the air

A special dance – the junior prom

Warm memories stored for days to come

She’s Cinderella at this ball

But she fears midnight not at all

It comes so soon – one era’s past

Another one begins – at last

No pumpkins, though, to steal her dreams

For she is Nance – and she’s 18.