Arthur's Song
By Tamar Pedersen

The sun comes up and all is still
A church bell rings across the hills
As we take a Sunday drive
Across the Jersey country side

At church an old gray man sits in our place
A scraggly beard upon his face
My daughter gathers up her courage
"My name's Natasha, what is yours"
And even though there's no reply
She doesn't hesitate to hold his hand
Somehow, the two had become friends

Chorus:
Just take your brothers hand
Whoever he may be
I pray that you'll be blind
To things that men might see
Let your spirits eyes reveal the real needs
Just take your brothers hand whoever he may be

After church my wife looks at the man
And tells me that she's changed our dinner plan
His startled face soon cracks a smile
Something it hadn't done in quite a while
This hermit who had lived his life alone
Joining us for dinner in our home
A lonely man, from the Jersey countryside

We finish cooking, dinner's done
We realize how quiet it's become
Should we have left the two alone?
Then laughter echoes through our home
We crack our daughter's bedroom door
And see them sitting cross-legged on the floor
Playing with her toys - I don't know when I've seen such joy

Chorus:
Just take your brothers hand
Whoever he may be
I pray that you'll be blind
To things that men might see
Let your spirits eyes reveal the real needs
Just take your brothers hand whoever he may be

Then one week we walked into the church
Our daughter's friend was gone, we start to search
The hospital said he had just arrived,
But by the time we get there he had died.
The nurse said that he had one last request,
She promised him she'd do her very best
He held a letter in his hand
And said, "would you please give this to my friend."

She didn't want to break the old mans heart
But didn't have a clue of where to start
"Can you help me" she exclaimed
Natasha is her name
The nurse saw something in our eyes
As we held our little girl.
We asked her what the letter said,
Simply - thank you for being my friend

The nurse just stood in disbelief
But then I think she recognized
This little girl was the old man's friend
So she took up to his side
Even though there's no reply
She doesn't hesitate to hold his hand

Chorus:
Just take your brothers hand
Whoever he may be
I pray that you'll be blind
To things that men might see
Let your spirits eyes reveal the real need
Just take your brothers hand whoever he may be

We take her to an unmarked grave
And tell her that her friend has gone away
She says "daddy it's o.k.,
Jesus must have wanted him to play."
She lays a flower down
And then she tells her friend good-bye
As he lay beneath the Jersey country side.

Arthur's Song - About

Back in the late 80's, when our daughter Natasha was only four, we lived in New Jersey. Before we moved there people told us we were making a big mistake. They said the state bird was the mosquito, and that it was the armpit of the world.

Contrary to popular belief, there is some beautiful country in New Jersey. We went to church in a small village, with an even smaller congregation. Attendance on an average Sunday was around 25. When somebody new showed up, everyone noticed, and tried to make them feel welcome.

One week we showed up for church, and an old man was sitting on our designated bench. He was pretty quiet, and didn't talk much. He would just nod, and shake hands. He looked unkempt, and was a little disheveled, but that didn't stop our daughter. She went up and sat right next to him, and somehow managed to make a friend. Arthur became a regular fixture on our bench, from one week to the next. Each week our daughter was anxious to see her friend.

As I became more acquainted with Arthur, I learned he had lived alone for many years. He had never married, and lived in a run down house, at the end of a dirt road. His home didn't have running water, and the electric service was primitive. During the winter months, he hibernated in an electric blanket, which was about all the old wiring could handle. He would get up at around noon, have something to eat, and go back to bed at around 3:00 in the afternoon. The plaster walls were old, and full of cracks. He was a junk collector, and seemed to have newspapers dating back to the 1930's stacked along all the halls.

Our hearts went out to him, so my wife decided we should invite him over for dinner. That next week, after church we asked if we could take him to our house for a home cooked meal. He smiled, which we interpreted as a yes. So we all hopped in the car and headed home.

When we got to the house, Natasha went right to work making Arthur feel welcome. She took him in the family room, and turned on her favorite movie, "The Little Mermaid". Arthur was fascinated! I think it was the first time he had seen a moving picture screen. He sat on the couch, completely enthralled, while my wife and I made dinner.

A little later, while my wife and I were working in the kitchen, we heard laughter coming from what sounded like our daughter's bedroom. We walked down the hall and cracked the door, only to find a full grown man and a little girl, sitting in the middle of the floor, playing with a Playskool garage and dolls. They were having a grand old time together. We hated to break up the fun, to have them come in for dinner.

We looked forward to seeing Arthur at church each week, but one week he didn't show up for church. We immediately suspected the worst, and started calling around to all of the local hospitals. Our worst suspiscions were confirmed when we finally found him, but the hospital said we had better hurry.

When we got to the hospital, they asked if we were family. We were not sure how to answer that. We felt like we were, but figured that probably didn't count for much. After we explained how we knew Arthur, they explained to us that he had just died. He hadn't even known he was sick, but had advanced Leukemia.

We all lost a dear friend that day, but thanks to the wisdom of a 4 year old girl, it made Arthur's death a bit easier to handle when Natasha said, "It's ok, Jesus must have wanted him to play".

Almost ten years after Arthur passed away, we traveled back to New Jersey, to visit some old friends. While talking with them about Arthur, they informed us that they had a video tape of him visiting their family at Christmas. As we watched the tape all the memories came flooding back. We obtained a copy, and had some pictures made from the tape. That is where we got the picture of Arthur we have on our site. It was as though he came back for a visit. Thanks to the Cooks.