The Love I Carry for You

We may not remember the same yesterday We may not have felt every moment the same There are pieces of mine you may never recall And pieces of yours I did not see at all But nothing between us could silence the truth Of the love in my heart that still reaches for you Through every distance, through everything we've been through There has always been love I carry for you Two hearts Two lives Two stories can still be true I do not need to lose myself To keep loving you This is the love I carry for you With every heartbeat, steady and true You gave me this life You gave me a beginning And I'm finally learning to love the life I'm living We may never remember everything the same We may carry different sorrow, different pain But nothing can take from my heart what I know The love I carry for you will always be my own I'm sorry my words ever broke your heart I'm sorry I couldn't see every wound that was yours There were pieces of your story I never understood And years when I could not see the strength with which you stood But Mom, there were pieces of my story too A frightened little girl who needed someone to hear the truth For too many years I swallowed every sound, every truth Until the voice I had buried finally needed to be found I hear you I love you But I must hear myself too Speaking my story never meant I stopped loving you This is the love I carry for you With every heartbeat, steady and true You gave me this life You gave me a beginning And I'm finally learning to love the life I'm living We may never remember everything the same We may carry different sorrow, different pain But nothing can take from my heart what I know The love I carry for you will always be my own For too long I silenced my own voice Afraid that love would leave if I made another choice I held myself away from every open hand Because losing love was more than I could stand I spent a lifetime giving love away Never understanding I deserved that love the same Now I can hold the child I used to be And give her all the love she needed from me I don't need you to surrender your memories I don't need you to see the past through my eyes Your story belongs to you And mine belongs to me Love does not require either one to disappear You are still my mother I am still your child Even across the silence Even across the miles There is no door I'm forcing No answer you must give My love will simply wait here While we both learn how to live This is the love I carry for you Not from who I was, but from who I've grown to be You gave me this life And now I'm finally seeing That loving you and loving me Can live inside the same heartbeat We don't have to remember everything the same Love does not ask us to erase each other’s pain So wherever this road may carry you and I There will always be a place in my heart That carries love unconditionally for you I am here When you are ready No judgment No demand Only the love I've always carried And Mom... I'm finally ready To receive love too