Piece Of My Life

Yeah Hadn't been up there in years I climbed up to the attic On a hot july afternoon Dust floating through the sunlight Like it always used to do I was looking for an old wrench That somebody said was mine When i saw a cardboard box With faded letters on the side I pulled it through the rafters Wiped the dust off with my hand And for a second i just stood there Like i somehow understood There was me in hand-me-down overalls Standing by a bicycle One hand on the handlebars The other holding yours I remembered how you ran beside me Halfway down oak street Till i found my balance on my own And heard you yell, "don't quit" There was dirt across my blue jeans A crooked smile i can't explain Funny how a single photograph Can bring it all back again Every picture turned another page Of someone i once knew A kid who thought the world was small And every answer came from you I went looking for a cardboard box In the corner of that room Found old photographs and pieces Of a life i thought i knew For a little while that afternoon The years just fell away I found a piece of my life That somehow never went away Never went away One picture showed a fishing pole Almost twice as tall as me You were laughing from behind the camera Down by miller creek Another from a county fair With cotton candy on my face The kind of day you never think You'll spend a lifetime trying to chase Then near the bottom of the box Was one i'd never seen You standing by that old ford truck Looking right at me On the back you wrote three simple words In fading black ink lines "You're doing fine." I don't know why it hit so hard After all these years gone by But sitting there beneath that attic light I finally let myself cry I went looking for a cardboard box In the corner of that room Found old photographs and pieces Of a life i thought i knew For a little while that afternoon The years just fell away I found a piece of my life That somehow never went away Piece of my life I carried that old box downstairs Like something made of gold Some things aren't memories They're home