On the top shelf
In the closet
In the workshop
Where he spent
His extra time
Was a dusty
Wooden box
That I had never
Noticed
Till that night
Then we set it
On the table
And carefully we
Opened up the top
And stared into
The memories
Daddy kept inside
The box
There was a letter
From Momma
When she went out
To Reno
To Help her sister
Out in '62
And the flower
From Hawaii
Where they went
On vacation
It was the
First time that my
Daddy ever flew
And the pocket knife
I gave to him
On Father's Day
Years ago
I thought it had
Been lost
We all thought
His heart was made
Of solid rock
But that was long
Before we found
The box
I guess we
Always knew it
But 'I love you'
Was hard for him
To say
Some men show it
Easily
And some just never
Seem to find a way
But that night
I began to see
A softer side of
Someone I had lost
I saw the love
He kept inside
The first time
When we opened
Up the box
There was a
Picture that was
Taken
When he and Mom
Were datin'
Standin' by his
1940 Ford and a
Faded leather Bible
He got when he
Was baptized
I guess no one
Understood him
Like the Lord
And a poem that
He had written
All about his
Wife and children
The tender words
He wrote were
Quite a shock
We all thought
His heart
Was made of
Solid rock
But that was long
Before we found
The box
We all thought
His heart was made
Of solid rock
But that was long
Before we found
The box