That night you told me she didn't treat me right. You said it straight to me. So when she asked me what you meant, We tried to honestly see. The one example I was given: She MADE ME get her some water once. When we asked what else she'd done to me, The questions just blew up. So there's one more scale before us, And this one belongs to me. If how your father has been treated Is something you want weighed honestly, Put that glass of water on it. Put anything else you recall. Then put the hurt you inflicted beside it— And we'll weigh it all. Put it on the scale, Every hurt you say she caused, Every time you thought she wronged me, Every grievance, great or small. You were worried how she treated me— Then surely this is fair: Put everything you did that hurt me On the other side of there. You decided what should hurt me, What I ought to feel was wrong. But I was living in that marriage. I was there all along. I didn't need you speaking for me Or deciding what I should feel. I knew how my wife was treating me. I also knew which hurts were real. Put the years we spent together, All the ordinary days. Put the children I once held so close, And the time that's slipped away. Put the games I wasn't there for, Family moments that I missed. Missionary moments Endowments, Weddings Yes. Be sure to put the distance from my grandchildren On the other side of this. Put it on the scale, Every hurt you say she caused. Every time you thought she wronged me, Every grievance, great or small. If how your father has been treated Is what concerned you after all, Then put everything upon it— And see which way it falls. Put the anger and accusations, Every cruel and cutting word. Put the things you said about me and my wife, Every accusation heard. Put the words that left a father Wondering what his love was worth— Then put Megan's words beside them, And remember how they hurt. Put the county on the balance, Put the CC&Rs there too. Put the shop and what it meant to me, And all I'd tried to do for you. Put the years I kept on working Longer than I'd planned to do, Helping build a place and future I believed would benefit you. Then put the things you did to threaten What I'd worked toward all my life— My income and retirement— And then put that glass of water on the other side. Maybe you believed you stood for me, That somehow I needed you To rescue me from someone I had already chosen too. But I knew the woman I came home to. I knew the life we shared. And while you worried how she treated me, She was the one always there. Standing by my side While I supported you. Loving me no matter what. Spoiling me through and through So put it on the scale, Every hurt you say she caused. Don't make anything seem smaller. Put down every single fault. But don't choose only pieces That support what you believe. Put everything upon that scale, And look honestly at what you see. You worried that she brought me pain. Maybe someday you'll understand: The deepest hurt she ever watched me carry Was losing you. And she was there To hold my hand. To see me through. Where were you?
