Moving Oleta was the hardest thing he'd done The nurses saw an old woman cryin' But he saw the love of his life She don't know where she is But she knows this isn't home Love is a hard, hard road He met her in the summer of thirty-seven In a brush arbor down on the Rush Creek shore He loved her black hair and the mischief in her smile But she won him with her eyes All the years and children gone He still sees her the same Love is a hard, hard road He woke up and mornin' and drove into town He stayed all day til her dinner came Then he took her to her room Leaned on her wheelchair like a walker And covered her with a quilt that she'd made Only God and a couple of nurses Helped the old man shoulder the load Love is a hard, hard road He said "They tell me this is all that's left, Say this hell on earth is best, I list all those reasons and I still don't understand" He cursed his body old and weak Tears of failure burned his cheeks He said "Oh, don't you know I prayed to die before this day" Love is a hard, hard road There's a shadow much darker than the shadow of d**h When you fear the reaper might not come today They line 'em up in Laz-E-Boys out in the sunroom The TV keeps the quiet away She can't recall his name And she's the only love he's known Love is a hard, hard road Love is a hard, hard road Moving Oleta was the hardest thing he'd done