Papa

Everyday my papa would work To try to make ends meet To see that we would eat Keep those shoes upon my feet Every night my papa would take me And tuck me in my bed Kiss me on my head After all my prayers were said And there were years Of sadness and of tears Through it all Together we were strong We were strong Times were rough But Papa he was tough Mama stood beside him all along Growing up with them was easy The time had flew on by The years began to fly They aged and so did I And I could tell That mama she wasn't well Papa knew and deep down so did she So did she When she died Papa broke down and he cried And all he could say was, "God, why her? Take me!" Everyday he sat there sleeping in a rocking chair He never went upstais Because she wasn't there Then one day my Papa said, "Son, I'm proud of how you've grown" He said, "Go out and make it on your own. Don't worry. I'm O.K. alone." He said, "There are things that you must do" He said, "There's places you must see" And his eyes were sad as he As he said goodbye to me Every time I kess my children Papa's words ring true He said, "Children live through you. Let them grow! They'll leave you, too" I remember every word Papa used to say I kiss my kids and pray That they'll think of me Oh how I pray They will think of me That way Someday