Why is it always our dads? My dad's first verse (before the organ peeled potatoes one.)

'Twas midnight on the ocean, not a streetcar was in sight
I went into a drugstore to get myself a light
The man behind the counter was a woman old and gray
Who used to peddle donuts on the road to Mandalay.
"Good morning." she said. Her eyes were bright with tears
She put her head between her feet and stood that way for years.
All her children are orphans, except a tiny tot
Who lives in a house across the street above a vacant lot.