[Verse 1]
Tuesday night, phone pressed hot against my ear,
Told my mother 'bout the job two states from here,
She went quiet, then that sigh like a verdict read,
"After all I did for you," same worn-out thread,
Said I'm not leaving her, I'm just leaving the house,
But she heard a slammed door, heard a mouse
scratching at the walls she built around my name,
Like my whole life's a hearing on her claim.
Dad chimed in soft, "Just give her time to grieve it,"
Like my packed suitcase was a crime I'd committed.
Hung up shaking, wondering what I did wrong,
Picked a life and got handed a funeral song.
[Chorus]
My choices ain't a verdict on your years,
I can love you steady and still walk from here.
My choices ain't a verdict on your years,
I can love you steady and still walk from here.
[Verse 2]
My friend Reyna's been down this exact same hall,
She said their panic ain't a judgment, it's just a stall,
Said draw the line soft — pencil, not a wall of spite,
One side's your choosing, other side's their fright.
Now when the phone rings and the air gets thick,
I breathe and ask, "Are you scared, or did I do something sick?"
Nine times of ten it's fear wearing anger's coat,
Grief for the kid who used to need every word they wrote.
Started saying, "I hear that this is hard for you,
and I'm still going" — both things can be true.
Not here to fix the tangled years of thread,
just holding my ground while loving what's ahead.
[Verse 3]
Years from now I might be the one on the phone,
Hearing my own kid say they're building a home
somewhere far from the table where I taught them to pray,
And I'll remember this ache, choose a different way.
I'll bite back the verdict, let the silence be kind,
Say "I'm proud and I'm scared" and mean both combined.
Maybe that's how the old chain finally breaks,
One phone call at a time, one choice love makes.
Till then I call my mother every Sunday still,
Not to beg forgiveness, just because I will.
Tell her 'bout the new place, the paint on the wall,
Let her in on my life, even if it's small.
[Bridge]
Some Sundays still she'll cry and the old guilt climbs back in,
Some choices I make twice just to prove it's not a sin.
Won't always land soft, won't always clear the air —
Loving somebody close don't mean the cost ain't there.
[Chorus]
My choices ain't a verdict on your years,
I can love you steady and still walk from here.
My choices ain't a verdict on your years,
I can love you steady and still walk from here.
[Chorus]
My choices ain't a verdict on your years,
I can love you steady and still walk from here.
My choices ain't a verdict on your years,
I can love you steady and still walk from here.