accents (rewrite one)

I miss hearing accents
though they sometimes make me sad
because they make me think
of all the relatives I had
in Southern California
aunts and uncles, family friends
and now that they've passed on
I need to hear them all again

with their pure vowels of Spanish
the way they rolled their r's
I'd hear them talk to Dad
from the back seat of the car
and then we'd drive back
from where the journey had begun
mom and dad and four kids
north on highway 101

          though I don't speak the language
          my heart knows it deep inside
          come in this car of memories
          it's time to take a ride

I heard accents in kitchens
and in their living rooms
they seemed to live inside of
the old ranchera tunes
hanging in the air
floating right above me
these were the sounds of family
the people who loved me

it hurts when it's all over
when the ones you love move on
and it's painful to remember 
when they've passed and gone
but that's where I find beauty
where memories survive
sometimes I look inside 
I see they're still alive 

          though I don't speak the language
          my heart has it deep inside
          come in this car of memories
          it's time to take a ride

I miss hearing accents
though they sometimes make me sad