“Yes, I Did.”

When I was just a child and my heart
was filled with love.
I used to look upon the whole world
through love-filled eyes.
(Yes, I did. Yes, I did. Yes, I did. Yes, I did)
Suddenly, my father had sadly died.
God had called him away.
The person I was sadly changed inside.

No longer was his love around.
(Whisper: Sadly I, too, had died.)
But I quietly held all my hurt deep inside.

No one was around to confide.
So I set my art aside.
I was the man at home, yeah.
Mother and sister needed me, yeah.

When I was twelve and my heart
was filled with pain.
I used to look upon the whole world
through tear-filled eyes.
(Yes, I did. Yes, I did. Yes, I did, Yes, I did)
Suddenly, my mother sat there and cried.
The man she loved had sadly died.

No longer was his love around.
(Whisper: Sadly she, too, had died.)
But she always sat around and cried.

No one was around to hear.
To lend their understanding, supportive ears.
I could do nothing for her.
So I helped around the home.

When I was seventeen and my heart
had healed deep inside.
Mother’s heart found another man’s love.
Though tear-filled eyes.
(Yes, she did. Yes, she did. Yes, she did. Yes, she did.)
Suddenly, they had married before too long.
Another man that she could truly love.

The day following their wedding,
He called us to have a family meeting.
It was then that we learned,
He married Mother for the money.
(It wasn’t love! It wasn’t love! It wasn’t love! It wasn’t love!)
Our world went totally dark inside.
Mother confessed that she wished she knew before.

Soon I turned eighteen and my heart,
filled with frustration deep inside.
Just days prior to my birthday,
I could no longer hide my sadness inside.
I went cold inside.
(Yes, I did. Yes, I did. Yes, I did. Yes, I did.)
Suddenly, I had quit my job and dropped school.
Just so I could try to heal inside.

I was labeled a bum, yeah!
I stopped paying my rent at home, yeah!
He treated us all wrong, yeah!
Just like a sad country song, yeah!

Upon my eighteenth birthday,
I got my surprise.
I came home from job hunting,
to find my stuff outside upon the lawn.
The locks upon the house were changed,
with a small note upon the door:

(Spoken softly with sadness:)
“You’re no longer welcome here.
Unless it is by written invitation.
Don’t bother trying to contact us.
I’ve taken the family on a vacation.”

So I came to terms with being alone,
without a home of my own.
I was sad and blue,
but determined and true.
I never ever did give up.
I just took things by the moment.
Yet again, I had died inside.