That’s All You Need
That’s All You Need
James River’s fourth grade students recently took a trip to the back roads of Elon, Virginia to Woodruff’s Store Café & Pie Shop. The smell of hot apple pie welcomed all in to the small café. The children sat at small, round, red & white checked tables anxious to try a bite of the famous pie while listening to the stories of centenarian Mary Fannie Woodruff. Everyone was made to feel like family before the first bite. Read their story: https://jrds.school/apps/news/article/676948
That’s All You Need
(Words and music by Paddy Braunstein with JRDS fourth grade.)
In Elon, Virginia, on a winding country road
There’s a simple corner store with a story to be told
A little slice of heaven with mountains all around
An orchard up the road where apples can be found
Inside are little tables and lots of wooden chairs
Not too many match, but no one really cares
The walls are filled with pictures; some of family, some of friends
And yummy apple pie, that we highly recommend
That’s all you need
That’s all you need
Be happy, give thanks for the simple things
If you do you’ll find the joy it brings
You might even find
That’s all you need
On a bench in the corner, a Bible by her side
Centenarian Mrs. Woodruff always wears a smile
She’ll tell you lots of stories, days of long ago
Every time she tells them, you’ll be sure to know
Her husband built the store, built it up by hand
Something he could call his own right there on that land
His father was the son of a slave set free
The store would be the start of their new destiny
That’s all you need
That’s all you need
Be happy, give thanks for the simple things
If you do you’ll find the joy it brings
You might even find
That’s all you need
The corner has seen a lot of change along the way
Things are not the same as they were yesterday
For thirty years a grocery store, folks would come on by
And if they were in need, the Woodruffs would provide
The children at the bus stop would come in from the storm
And wait with Mrs. Woodruff, she always kept them warm
Folks drive for miles to meet her and have pie
And listen to the stories of the days gone by
That’s all you need
That’s all you need
Be happy, give thanks for the simple things
If you do you’ll find the joy it brings
You might even find
That’s all you need
She rode her daddy’s mule one mile to get the mail
Churned butter as a chore, fetched water in a pail
A tick bed made of wheat, a feed sack for a dress
One orange each for Christmas and still they all felt blessed
Santa brought one baby doll, three sisters had to share
Seven brothers shared a toy and played without a care
You listen to the stories and think that things were tough
But she’ll be quick to tell you they always had enough
That’s all you need
That’s all you need
Be happy, give thanks for the simple things
If you do you’ll find the joy it brings
You might even find
That’s all you need
We took a fourth grade field trip to learn about the store
But in the end we realized that we learned so much more
We found a slice of heaven and it wasn’t in the pie
It was in the Woodruff story and the love that they inspire
That’s all you need
That’s all you need
Be happy, give thanks for the simple things
If you do you’ll find the joy it brings
You might even find
That’s all you need
Copyright 2017
