Gray Hair and Drinking Games

Erica wants to tell them

What to do

And I don’t see the point

They’re ninety-four

And ninety-six

I say let ‘em do

Whatever they want

It’s fun for them

It’s a game

It’s recreation

Granted, it does involve drinking

It’s--Drinking games

But, you know,

Some of the residents

At the--in the community--

The staff there

Can’t even get them

To play games

They can’t get them to engage

No matter what they do

And here’s my Mom and Dad

Looking spry and vivacious

And drunk

Usually drunk

But spry and drunk

Vivacious and drunk

Happy and drunk

And so what if they’re drunk

More than they’re sober?

Allegedly

That’s--

That’s what Erica--

Erica is--

That’s why she’s not their favorite

If we’re going to be honest about it

Because she always thinks she knows

What the best thing to do is

She wants them

To go to AA

She wants them

To sober up

For crying out loud

They could go at any moment

And she thinks they’re not going to get into Heaven

If they’re a little buzzed when they get there

I mean, it’s not like they’re doing hard drugs

But again

Even if they were

So what?

Haven’t they earned it?
Haven’t they earned the right

To do hard drugs if they want to?

Let alone stay drunk all day

By hosting an eight-hour beer pong tournament

In the bingo room?

We--I--Erica has no idea

What it’s like

To be the age they are

And, you know, not to cast aspersions

On the elderly

But I can’t imagine it’s a picnic

Needing to live in an assisted living, uh, community

While one of your ungrateful daughters

Criticizes your every move

So if the only way

To get through that

Is to keep knocking ‘em back

Then I say ‘Go for it’

If that gets them up every day

And--and--

And one day

One of them is going to go

And unless it’s like ‘The Notebook’

The other is going to be left alone

And if they know that

And I bet they know that

Then--then--

Then they probably feel like

They should do as much as they can

Together

While they can

Together

So I’m all for it

And I tell Erica that

But she thinks she knows everything

And I know

It’s coming from a place of love

But--

Sometimes love is saying

To hell with it

You know?

Sometimes love is standing back

And just

Letting people do

Whatever it is they can to, uh, to--

Well

Whatever it is they can

Whatever it is

They want to do