00:12Sabrina was barely a year old when I turned and walked away
00:18Left Kathy there to raise her while I went and lost my way
00:25I could give a thousand reasons, but reasons don't make it right
00:31A little girl went on growing without her daddy there at night
00:38The years went by like they always do, you swear there's still more time
00:45Till life puts what you've run from right there before your eyes
00:55I was working at a school one day, just another job to do
01:00When I saw a little girl out in the hall and somehow I just knew
01:06Her teacher called to get back to class but she wouldn't turn away
01:13She just stood there staring at me like she'd waited for that day
01:20I walked over slowly toward her, didn't know what I could say
01:26So I looked into my daughter's eyes and whispered, I'll see you soon, someday
01:33But she knew who I was, God, she knew who I was
01:40After all those missing birthdays, after everything I'd lost
01:47I thought time had erased me, thought she'd forgotten my face
01:53But my little girl remembered the man who wasn't in his place
02:00She knew who I was, and that almost broke my heart
02:06Cause she remembered her daddy, when her daddy hadn't done his part
02:14I went down to that basement where nobody could see
02:20Put my hands against the concrete wall and fell down to my knees
02:27I cried for every bedtime, every Christmas I had missed
02:33Every scraped knee I didn't bandage, every good night without a kiss
02:40And the hardest thing about regret is knowing what is true
02:46You can't go back and raise the child who grew up without you
02:53But she knew who I was, God, she knew who I was
03:00After all those years between us, after everything it cost
03:06I thought I was a stranger, just a shadow from her past
03:13But somehow she remembered me and recognized me at last
03:20She knew who I was, and that almost broke my heart
03:26Cause she remembered her daddy, when her daddy hadn't done his part
03:33Now Sabrina's grown with children, two little lives of her own
03:40And sometimes when I watch them, I think about the years that are gone
03:46I see all the things I should have seen when their mother was that small
03:53And every laugh reminds me of how much I missed it all
03:59I can't rewrite the beginning, can't pretend I didn't leave
04:07Saying that I'm sorry doesn't give back what she needed from me
04:13But I can answer when she calls me, I can show up every day
04:19I can love her and her children and stop running away
04:26She knew who I was, and I finally know who I need to be
04:31Not the man who walked away from family
04:35Not the father I used to be
04:37I'm the man who's standing here now
04:41Trying to mend what I let fall apart
04:44Knowing forgiveness isn't old to me
04:47But giving her all of my heart
04:51And I still see that hallway
04:55Like it happened yesterday
04:57Day
04:57Day
05:05You
