If She Were My Daughter Poem by John F. McCullagh

I’m a real estate man
In a suburban wasteland
And I’ve opened many doors in my time.
A lifetime of regrets,
But I cannot forget
What she said to me over the line.

“ If I was your daughter, and getting divorced”
What would you tell me to do?
“With two children at home
Abandoned, alone”
Do I sell out or stay? ”
“What to do? ”

Her husband had left her
Pregnant, adrift.
with their five year old son at her side.
Post partum, alone
She’s on the phone
What should I tell her to do.?

The house had a mortgage
Perhaps “under water”
But the debt service-
that she could do.
She had a good job
And in spite of that slob
She was one girl who could see it through.

“ If I was your daughter, and getting divorced”
What would you tell me to do?
“With two children at home
Abandoned, alone”
Do I sell out or stay? ”
“What to do? ”

I told her to stay, there was no other way
After taxes, its cheaper than rent
She would have some hard times
And be house poor besides-
But the schools here are better for them.

Back in the depression,
When things were the worst,
Couples fought hard to stay true..
But it seems nowadays
Nearly one in two strays
And everything’s falling apart.
..