Love You More Than the Miles

⸻

Daddy’s hands got diesel stains

Coffee cup rings and years of pain

Cracked old boots by the kitchen door

Still hears me yell, “I love you more”

He just grins through a crooked smile

Says, “Girl, you ain’t won in a while”

Lord knows neither one backs down

Two hard heads in a small-town town

He drove eighteen wheels through pouring rain

With cancer burnin’ through his veins

But a Seabee man don’t ever break

Just bends like Alabama cane

⸻

And every scar tells a story

Every wrinkle wears some glory

A man built tough enough to stay

When weaker souls would run away

⸻

So here’s to Scott with the weathered soul

Built this family with callused hope

Navy grit and a truck stop prayer

Still carries us like we’re standing there

And Dustin climbed from the darkest nights

Burned his demons in welding light

Now sparks fly bright where pain once stood

Turned a broken road into something good

Nick’s out west where the mountains rise

Badge on his chest and fire in his eyes

Still picks up the phone when I need a friend

Lord, I’d choose those boys all over again

Yeah we’re loud, rough, stubborn as hell

But love runs deep where red dirt dwells

And if Heaven asked what home feels like

It sounds like laughter and a late-night fight

⸻

Dustin used to run wild roads

Smoke and shadows, heavy loads

Mama cried while Daddy prayed

Hoping somehow he’d find his way

Now he’s striking steel at break of dawn

Straight-line spark with country songs

Got rough-cut hands and a heart rebuilt

A good man rising from old guilt

And Nick out there in Colorado snow

Durango winds and roads unknown

Still the same boy throwing rocks in creeks

Still the one who checks on me all week

Blue lights flash while the cold wind blows

But he’s got a heart that gold can’t hold

Yeah my brother wears that badge with pride

But he’s always just Nick by my side

⸻

(Muted trumpet and steel guitar trading lines)

We ain’t rich in diamonds

Ain’t polished, clean, or neat

But there’s love in these old floorboards

And mud on every seat

There’s stories in the silence

And truth in every scar

Some families are born in mansions

Ours was built beside old cars

And Daddy still says “Love ya most”

Every time we say goodbye

Guess neither one of us plans on losing

Till the day we die

⸻

So here’s to Scott still rolling on

Through Carolina rain before the dawn

Cancer couldn’t take what faith held tight

A Seabee heart still built to fight

And Dustin found redemption flames

Turned old hurt into his name

Proof even broken roads can mend

If somebody keeps believing in them

Nick’s my brother and my best damn friend

The kind of soul you thank God He sends

From Alabama dirt to Colorado skies

He’s got home still living in his eyes

Yeah we’re redneck rough with hearts of gold

Raised on stories and worn-out roads

And if I ever sing one truth before I go—

It’s no matter how much we argue so

No matter who wi