Today, out of the blue, I thought of an old country song and I thought, why not start a tear jerker thread? Sort of a Can you top this?

The Golden Guitar

I walked into a Honkey Tonk one night down in New Orleans,
Up above the bar hung a big guitar, like none I'd ever seen,
Its neck was set with diamonds, and although the strings were old,
Like kings of sound they wound around six keys of solid gold.

A man stepped up beside me, his breath was strong of wine,
And he said, "That guitar once belonged to a real close pal of mine.
He used to play it, right here, it was '45 I think,
I could tell you quite a story friend, if you'd care to buy me a drink."

Well possessed by every weakness that makes a man a fool,
I bought a round, and he drank it down, and leaned back on his stool.
"I remember now" he said,"It was '45 alright,
He'd just returned from the great war, that's where he lost his sight.
His buddies gave him that guitar, at the time it was simple and plain,
He added the gold a jewels as he played his way to fame.
He was doing a show in Nashville on the night he received the call to
Come up to the Grand Ol' Opry, the greatest show of all.

I was driving him to Nashville, it was cold and misting rain,
The signals flashed and the whistle blew but, Mr. I never saw that train.
I heard the doctor tell him, just after he'd used his knife,
'You're lucky son, it was only your arm, it could have been your life.'

But, he died that night, life just demanded more than he could give,
I think he could have made it, but he just lost the will to live.
But, this earth's loss is Heaven's gain for tonight he's still a star,
He plays with a band of angels; that's my son's golden guitar.