Jonny wrote this song for his Great Aunt Eva while he was deployed to New Mexico in 1994. (Eva was the family matriarch on his father's side.) While in NM, Jonny got a ride to Hobbs to play it for her in person at the center where she lived her last days. She died about a year later.
Finally got it recorded live at the Hickory House in July of 2021 with Shel's help!
Lyrics
When we say “Great” Aunt Eva it means more than “once removed”
It means “wonderful, compassionate, and kind”.
Our amazing matriarch was a lady through and through, with a strength of heart you very rarely find.
When I was six we went to Wink to pick her up at home, then drove to Arizona for a while.
We visited Aunt ‘Vira in a Winslow nursing home, where Eva lifted up her sister with a smile.
The way back to West Texas was a magic odyssey: volcanoes, trees of stone, and desert skies.
I never will forget the night Dad took us up to see the pretty lights of old El Paso from on high.
The trip we took was my first look at Eva’s incandescence.
I was in awe at how my Pa was humble in her presence.
Though she was strong I was a boy and felt her gentle reach,
When she taught me how to tie my shoes like no one else could teach.
The tale I’ve told was just the start of how I knew Aunt Eva,
And just another leading role she’s played;
For many lives were blessed by her, and all of them shout “viva!”
To her memory, and her selfless noble ways.
When we say “Great” Aunt Eva, it means more than “once removed”
It means “wonderful, compassionate, and kind”.
Our amazing matriarch was a lady through and through, with a strength of heart you very rarely find.
Aunt Eva was a rare and wondrous kind.
Unpublished work copyright © 1994,2018 by Jon C. Iverson