Pops,
remember when you used to wonder
when you’d get a daughter?
Mom,
remember when you used to read to me
in your stomach?
Remember when you saw me crawling
as a toddler?
Thinking to yourself,
“Didn’t I put him in the crib?”.
You put me back in it,
tryna figure how I did it.
I lifted the mattress and slipped through under.
Started talking early,
my mouth was restless.
Then I took steps just to level up the mischief.
Remember that time when I cussed,
so you put a spoonful of pepper in my mouth
‘Miserable troublemaker’
been my title from beginning.
Feather ruffler been my status
from beginning.
Preschool teacher gave me patient love.
May the Lord bless her heart
for what she said to you.
She said,
“They’ll misunderstand this youngster”.
She said,
“They’ll misunderstand his functions”.
She said,
“This boy’s got some complicated features”.
“Make sure to prepare all his teachers”.
God bless her heart,
she said, “This little boy special”.
God bless her heart,
she used to call me her professor.
Bless your heart for taking care of her professor.
Bless your heart for how you raised her professor.

Y’all some ride or dies, that’s for sure.
Sometimes I just thank the Lord.
I’m ashamed that I brought the storms.
Times change and I have for sure.
But I’m sorry for all the stress I caused.
I’m so sorry for all the pain I brought.
You still loved me
through all the ups and downs.
You still loved me
for all my strengths and flaws and all.

You lost faith in the school system
and my behaviour was out of control.
So you switched all your kids to homeschooling.
All that supervision made me calm down a little bit.
Then I went off to Newtown, there was a shift.
I was no longer class clown,
I was the kid that would get all of the best grades.
I was prince.
Then I went to the secondary school
right next to your workplace.
Each of my scenarios set a new worst case.
Remember when your signature appeared
on the slip that I got for that detention?
Yeah, it was forged.
Remember when I flipped on my friend
and called his mother,
giving sick threats?
Yeah my thoughts followed actions,
past tense.
That’s when you took me to a therapist.
Bless your heart
‘cause you didn’t look for medicine.

Y’all some ride or dies, that’s for sure.
Sometimes I just thank the Lord.
I’m ashamed that I brought the storms.
Times change and I have for sure.
But I’m sorry for all the stress I caused.
I’m so sorry for all the pain I brought.
You still loved me
through all the ups and downs.
You still loved me
for all my strengths and flaws and all.

Yeah,
through all the times you had enough.
Yeah,
through all the times your heart was crushed.
Yeah,
through all the times you cried to God.
Yeah,
through all the times you tried.
The love is unmistaken.
You and I have a love that is unmistaken.
You and I have a love that’s an unmistaken one.
“I love you forever and evermore”
is understatement.

Remember
when I stabbed that boy in school
twice?
I offered an apology,
but couldn’t find the honesty.
I did not explain what made me do it.
I mean,
how could I explain what I was doing?
Then a couple years passed,
and the party looked fun.
Remember
when you took me to the hospital
slumped?
I was awake all along,
it was a stunt.
I was tryna put a boost on my clout.
The season had come for the drugs and the fetes.
The season had come for the substance tests.
When I found reefer,
I showered that leaf with all my piggy bank.
I was fiending.
Remember
when I passed curfew,
and then they brought me home blacked out?
And then came another blackout.
Woke up on a stretcher with college in a month.
In the hospital,
you told me that y’all were having doubts.
Y’all were hesitant,
but you let me go.
I felt free when we parted ways.
I was finally free.
Sipping on lean.
Puffing dope.
Even dabbling with coke.
Speeding nowhere.
No care.
No fear.
Shifting gears.
I was zipping through the avenue to tears.
My mind fell apart
so I turned to my guardians an ocean apart,
and you picked me up and threw me on a plane.
And that homecoming
really gave you some heartbreak.
How you kept loving
through the teardrops of heartache?
You even took me to a therapist again
to get my screws and my bolts tightened.
You helped me pick up
fallen pieces of my conscience
so I could understand the wires of my functions.
Then we finally settled my profession.
The Lord said,
“Music”.
You let me off the leash.
You sent me back overseas.
I went to Florida
and started off rolling with a dangerous squad.
I nearly lost my life,
so I buckled it up.
Now I’ve got a military attitude.
Now I’m always waking up inside the stu’.
If they ask me how I hit this altitude,
I would tell them,
“God through my guardians’ role”.

Y’all my ride or dies, that’s for sure.
Sometimes I just thank the Lord.
I’m ashamed that I brought the storms.
Times change and I have for sure.
But I’m sorry for all the stress I caused.
I’m so sorry for all the pain I brought.
You still loved me
through all the ups and downs.
You still loved me
for all my strengths and flaws and all.

I see.
I always see
all your sacrifice
flooding through my memories.
Yeah,
I remember.
I remember.
I remember how much you invested…
all.
Now you can rejoice the day of my birth.
I go another mile to honour y’all both.
Yeah,
it’s what’s deserved
for all that you endured.
The return on your investment.
My parenthood will teach what you taught.
When it’s my turn to be taken to the edge,
I’ll remember
all the stress I gave you.
I’ll remember
I must be more patient.
I’ll remember
how you dealt with the turbulent planes.
You put the garlands on my head
and the pendant on my neck.
How can I forget
the essence of correction by Godly instruction?
How can I forget all the lessons you taught us?
Direction, protection, affection,
compassion, restraint.
The way I’m trained
is straight from God
to your heart
to your hands
to your head
to the table
to the doorposts
to the gates.
We are blessed
by the shed of the blood
of the one on the cross
from before through now and beyond.
Thanks for the prayers
through the tears that you wept.
Yeah,
but now the tears are for the glory
of the author of the story.
To God be the glory.
Yeah.
Now the tears are for the glory
of the author of the story.
No more worries.
For what it’s worth,
I’m sorry.
For what it’s worth,
I’m sorry.
For what it’s worth,
I’m sorry.
To God be the glory.