My Father, My Friend

(spoken softly)

It’s never too late for love to find its way back.

And I’m grateful you opened that door when I knocked.

⸻

I was five the last time I saw your face

Then life pulled us both in a different place

And you weren’t there, but now I understand

Life don’t always go the way we planned

I used to wonder if you ever thought of me

If you ever prayed I’d turn out to be

More than a name on some papers lost

More than a child paid in time’s cost

I carried your absence like a weight in my chest

’Til twenty-eight, when I flew out West

Found your door and knocked with hope

You opened it — and gave me rope

Not to hang, but to climb from the pain

To build what we lost, even if late in the game

⸻

My father… my friend

We didn’t start, but we still won’t end

Years we missed, but love still mends

You showed up when the world just bends

⸻

You give me wisdom, you give me peace

You remind me what real love means

The kind that don’t shout, the kind that stays

The kind I hope I find one day

You’re the proof that love can heal

That distance don’t define what’s real

My father… my friend

You were the start I didn’t know I’d need again

⸻

I see how you love your wife with grace

No battles, no pride, just a safe space

You hold her like she’s the world in your hands

That kind of love — I still don’t understand

But I want it, Pops. I really do

To give like you, to follow through

I ain’t got it all figured out yet

But your blueprint’s the realest I’ve met

You make manhood feel like home

Strong, but gentle — solid to the bone

You missed some chapters, but wrote the rest

And even in silence, you gave me your best

⸻

We lost time, but we gained truth

You taught me more in these seven years than my youth

I used to feel like something was stolen

But now I see what’s truly golden

⸻

My father… my friend

We didn’t start, but we still won’t end

Years we missed, but love still mends

You showed up when the world just bends

⸻

You didn’t raise me… but you raised me up.

I needed you more than I knew.

And now I carry your voice with me — every day.

My father… my friend.

I’m proud of us.