Once a year

Yeah…

365, and I still count the days

One trip. One week. Whole heart on the page

Look…

Junior, Kemo, Raje — three of ‘em, my bloodline

Rodgena keep the shine like the sun never cut time

Twelve months in between, but the love never decline

I’m markin’ up the calendar, one flight at a time

One week out the year, but that week is the reset

I’m wishin’ I could wake up and see y’all on the breakfast

Table, every mornin’, not a holiday visit

But life got a distance that the heart gotta live with

Still I call every night, still I pray every dawn

When the days go dark, y’all the light I lean on

Family ain’t a word, it’s a bond that don’t bend

And the further the distance, the closer the end—

Of the wait. I can’t rush it, so I treasure the seconds

Every laugh is a blessing I could never second-guess this

Once a year in person, but y’all with me daily

Missin’ every moment, every memory replayin’

Wish I could rewind it, hold it all a little longer

One day we’ll be together — that’s the dream I’m drawn to

Family is everything, everything is family

Pain and the joy, y’all the only ones who understand me

Once a year ain’t enough, but the love stay infinite

Every beat of my heart, y’all the ones that’s in it

Now Momma Annie, strong one, raised us on her own spine

Carried every burden so her kids could have a sunshine

She miss my pops, Roderick — left us way too soon

Crime and violence took him, left a wound in the room

He was gone before his time, before the chapter closed

But his spirit in my chest every time the beat rose

Still I carry the name, still I carry the flame

Loss’ll make you colder, but the love stayed the same

Then came George — step-pops, but a real one

Stepped in with a heart full, chose to love like his own son

He treat my momma right, hold her down every day

Watchin’ him adore her wash the heartache away

Most men only talk it, George, he really live it

That’s the kinda love I pray my future kids’ll witness

Real love don’t replace — it just builds on the foundation

He became the steady hand, became the restoration

‘Cause once a year in person, but y’all with me daily

Missin’ every moment, every memory replayin’

Wish I could rewind it, hold it all a little longer

One day we’ll be together — that’s the dream I’m drawn to

Family is everything, everything is family

Pain and the joy, y’all the only ones who understand me

Once a year ain’t enough, but the love stay infinite

Every beat of my heart, y’all the ones that’s in it

[Bridge] (beat drops to pads only, vocals airy, half-sung)

I know Pop watchin’ down from a better view

Smilin’ at the man his seeds are growin’ into

And Momma found her peace, George became the steady hand

Sometimes the healin’ come from a love you didn’t plan…

Yeah…

[Verse 3] (beat drops back in, flow tightens)

So here’s to Junior, Kemo, Raje, Rodgena, my blood

Momma Annie, Roderick, and George — all of the above

One year, one visit, but the bond is for life

I’m keepin’ every memory sha