[Verse 1]
We crossed oceans with two backpacks
Stamps in the passport, miles in our eyes
Mexico sunsets, Europe after dark
Still counting dollars on red-eye flights
I was staring at rings behind glass
Doing math I didn’t know how to trust
Ten grand in the bank, future in my chest
Love asking questions money never does
My father was gone when I was twelve
Mom still standing, never sat down
Used to send me twenty bucks and a pizza
Just so I wouldn’t feel alone in town
Now here I am holding a promise
That costs more than she ever made
Half her salary on something that small
Trying not to be ashamed
[Pre-Chorus]
I wasn’t scared of the diamond
I was scared of what it meant
I didn’t want our story starting
With people laughing at what I spent
[Chorus]
I didn’t just want a ring that shined
I wanted one that said I stayed
That the loneliness stopped with me
That the nights alone finally paid
That love wouldn’t feel borrowed
That home wouldn’t disappear
I wasn’t buying jewelry
I was buying the future I never had here
[Verse 2]
After Dad passed and my sister left
Mom worked nights, then worked again
Lost my family in pieces
Long before I was a man
So that circle on her finger
Was more than gold and stone
It was proof I could build a table
And never eat alone
Dreams don’t stay dreams forever
They turn into numbers and plans
Weddings cost more than hope
And houses remember who you are
Then Brownsville called with keys and trust
A medical center, my name on the door
Six figures for the first time in my life
Still scared it could all be taken away
[Pre-Chorus]
I stepped into a world my family never knew
A realm with no safety net
Where being good wasn’t enough
You had to be the best
[Chorus]
I didn’t just want a ring that shined
I wanted one that broke the line
From scraping by to standing firm
From someday dreams to real-time
That love wouldn’t feel temporary
That home wouldn’t disappear
I wasn’t buying jewelry
I was buying the future I never had here
[Bridge]
They never said it out loud
But I always felt the doubt
That without the degree
I could be written out
[Bridge – half spoken]
I was scared success could still leave me.
[Break – instrumental pause]
[Final Chorus]
Now I see what it really cost me
And what it finally gave
I stopped just surviving the story
And started building a place
If pressure bent my shoulders
It never bent my aim
That ring wasn’t about money
It was about ending the pain
[Outro]
If love is a promise kept daily
And legacy means we stay
Then every dollar was worth it
To give our family a place
JLWatkins
