Grandaddy”
Verse 1
They called you Grandaddy, born in the forties
Army green at barely sixteen
Left home early, learned to shoulder weight
Carried more than rifles, carried names
Quail calls breaking cold November air
Dust on your boots, prayer in your breath
Always came home when the sun went down
Loved your people hard, loved this town
Chorus
There’s a red chair by the window still
Black coffee cooling, time standing still
You wore loss like a second skin
But you never let it harden you in
Faith worn thin but always there
God and grit and a folding prayer
If love’s a legacy you leave behind
Grandaddy, you left me mine
Verse 2
Johnny Mac gone Christmas morning
Kids too young to understand mourning
Mama crying in the other room
Snow fell quiet, heaven moved
Years later the phone rang wrong
Headlights and glass, my mama gone
You didn’t curse God, you bent your knee
Held your Bible like it was holding you
Chorus
There’s a red chair by the window still
Black coffee cooling, time standing still
You wore loss like a second skin
But you never let it harden you in
Faith worn thin but always there
God and grit and a folding prayer
If love’s a legacy you leave behind
Grandaddy, you left me mine
Verse 3
You buried your bride, cancer took her slow
Held her hand, wouldn’t let her go
Then you stood back up, learned how to live
Found grace again, learned to forgive
You married again, wore a deacon’s tie
Served the church till the day you died
Said “son, Jesus ain’t scared of scars”
And I wrote that down inside my heart
Verse 4
Then the call came late, said my brother’s gone
Needles don’t care where you’re from
You held me tighter than you ever had
Didn’t say much, just said “I got you, lad”
But your mind began to slip away
Names got lost, nights turned gray
Still knew me when you saw my face
Still smiled slow, still said grace
Chorus
There’s a red chair by the window still
Black coffee cooling, time standing still
You wore loss like a second skin
But you never let it harden you in
Faith worn thin but always there
God and grit and a folding prayer
If love’s a legacy you leave behind
Grandaddy, you left me mine
Bridge
They say you and her left the same day
Like God said “enough of the pain”
Two souls walking the same old road
Back home where the quail fly low
Dementia couldn’t steal your love
Or the way you said my name, son
Even when the world went dim
You still knew who you were in Him
Outro
There’s a red chair empty now
But I feel you when I sit down
Black coffee bitter, just like truth
And every good thing I am came through you
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