Roots and Wings

Roots and Wings
This is an Irish song and it suits the effort behind family reunions and and why family and where you came from can be so important.

ROOTS AND WINGS

Words and music by Steve Romanoff

I probably heard it somewhere, but it’s the notion that the best of what you give to children reveals itself as a sense of place and also of liberation….roots and wings. It’s the universal pairing: a home to which you can always return combined with knowing when and how to leave.

For all the gifts that life may give you,

I give your roots, I give you wings,

For all the hands Lady Luck may deal you,

For all the chances tomorrow brings,

Of all the lessons that life may teach you,

May you come to value above all things,

That the greatest gift anyone can give you

Is to give you you roots and give you wings

For every single door that opens to you,

Another one may hit you in the chin,

Confuscious said the greatness of our being

Is that we chose to get back up again,

So, in between the winning and the losing,

You’ve got to live your life the best you know,

Some prizes you may win won’t be your chosing

And some blessing something less than you’d bestow.

Roots are what we dig for when we need ‘em,

An anchor on the hill against the wind,

A person or some place that gives some meaning,

To that X upon the map where you began,

So, in between the winning and the losing,

You’ve got to live your life the best you can,

The wings that bear you to you new horizon,

Are wings that can surely bring you home again.