The Dream I Kept

Back in school they’d pass around

“What you wanna be?” written down

Astronauts and big-time stars

Kids talkin’ ‘bout drivin’ fancy cars

I just shrugged, didn’t say too much

Didn’t dream about fame or a million bucks

While they were chasin’ the sky above

I was dreamin’ ‘bout a steady kind of love

Recess came, I’d drift away

Watchin’ dads at the end of the day

Kids runnin’ fast, jumpin’ in their arms

Safe and sound in their father’s calm

I’d take pictures in my mind

Hold ‘em close, frame by frame in time

Promised myself, “One day I’ll be

The man that little kid needs to see”

Didn’t know how, didn’t know when

But I swore I’d break where I’d been

I just wanted to be a husband, a father

Build a life that was stronger, not harder

A hand to hold, a heart to keep

A home where love runs deep

Not a spotlight, not a name in lights

Just a porch and laughter every night

All I ever dreamed, from the very start

Was a family I could give my heart

Years rolled on, I’d see ‘em still

Candlelight dinners up on the hill

A man pullin’ out his woman’s chair

The kind of love that says, “I care”

I’d smile soft, like I belonged

Even when I felt I’d waited too long

Holdin’ onto a quiet prayer

“For someone to love me, and let me be there”

Then you walked in, and everything changed

Every empty space rearranged

Now I’m a husband, I’m a father

Buildin’ a life that’s stronger, not harder

A hand to hold, a heart to keep

A home where love runs deep

No spotlight, no name in lights

Just your laugh beside me every night

All I ever dreamed, from the very start

Is finally livin’ here in my heart

Two years in, and the world stood still

When they said, “She’s here,” I felt that fill

Tiny hands, and your mother’s eyes

Isabela… my whole life

Every picture I held inside

Came alive the moment you cried

Every promise I made back then

Found its way to this moment again

Now I’m a husband, I’m a father

Holdin’ a love I never thought I’d harbor

A hand so small wrapped tight in mine

A living dream I waited a lifetime

No spotlight, no name in lights

Just this miracle every night

All I ever dreamed, from the very start

Is right here… beatin’ in my arms

I used to watch from far away

Dreamin’ ‘bout this very day

Now I don’t have to wonder what it means…

I’m livin’ the dream I used to dream