You chose to see me as a stranger Standing somewhere I shouldn't stand, Someone threatening her memory, Trying to replace your mother's hand. You thought that loving me Meant loving her somehow less— But you could have seen another story: Your dad was happy again. He could have stayed alone in Malad, The shop six days a week, Eight to five and Saturday mornings, Just working hard to make ends meet. I wish you'd see what marriage changed— More freedom, time and choice, A dad who wasn't always working, A grandpa present in your lives. You chose to see me as competition, But you could have seen me as more. Not a mother being replaced— Just another open door. More time with Dad, more memories, More hands when life got hard, Another person loving you, Another grandma's heart. I never asked to be your mother. There was nothing to replace. But everything I brought beside me Could have been received as grace. You could have seen me as a Bonus. That's what I hoped, and tried to be: Not taking anything away— Just adding to the family. There were baseball games on weeknights, T-ball, basketball, programs at school, Grandpa sitting there beside you Because his time was finally his. There were courts and decks and cars, Projects you were working through, And a dad no longer working Who had time to build with you. There was Missouri, Oklahoma, New homes and lives he got to see, Baptisms across the country, Places he might never be. A week with Caleb while Mindy traveled, Grandpa had the time to stay. Milestones, moments, celebrations— He had time to share the day. An Alaskan cruise for Aaron Disney World for little girls, Tuition made much lighter Gifts of music, trips and grills The Malad shop stayed yours much longer, Then the Riverside shop began to rise, A home with room to gather And make memories side by side. There were funds begun for missions, Plans for futures still unseen, Not because I owed you something— But because you mattered to me. And underneath the dollars Was something money couldn't prove: I was planning for your futures Because that's simply what love does. And there were things without a price tag— Calendars and birthdays kept, Listening to another project Long past when your dad's interest left. Telling you each how great you were For maybe the thousandth time, Watching children, cheering loudly, Trying to make your joys mine. I know I didn't do it perfectly. Sometimes love can miss its mark. But there was never any question You had places in my heart. Every child and every grandchild Had one more person on their side. And you can never have too many People loving you in life. Since you saw me as replacing her, Everything I did looked wrong. Every place I stood felt threatening. Every difference didn't belong. But what if I was never subtraction? What if I was addition? What if your Dad didn't give you less— When he chose a different life to live? What if somehow marrying me Gave him more of himself to give? More time. More freedom. More security. More memories. More Grandpa. More Dad. And one more person who loved you simply because she loved him. You chose to view me as competition. You chose to keep me at arm's length. You chose to guard what you held sacred As though I'd somehow make it change. But you could have called it Bonus— More love added to your lives, A father free to be your father, With someone happy by his side. You didn't have to lose your mother For there to be a place for me. Love was never meant for counting As though there wasn't enough to meet the need. I never came to take her place. I came to love him, help him keep living too. And so much of what living that life made possible Was quietly given back to you. You chose to look at me And assign the meaning of loss and change. But you could have looked around And focused on what came. Nothing taken from her. Nothing taken from you. Just one more person. One more heart. One more kind of love. You could have viewed it as a Bonus.
