[Verse 1] Sweetie found a young girl with a textbook on her knees While the house stayed quiet through audiology degrees She kept watch beside the notes, then curled up by the chair A small, determined guardian with silver in her hair [Pre-Chorus] She never needed everyone She chose the ones she knew And every room felt more like home When she decided to [Chorus] Oh Sweetie, you were ours in your peculiar way A little queen with rules we learned to obey You loved your mom on your own terms, sweet and strong and true And somehow all the years grew softer because of you [Verse 2] She loved to eat, and loved it more when someone filled the bowl One day she sat there huge and grinning, with a hopeful little soul Her eyes said, “That was wonderful, but surely there is more” So we laughed and served her seconds by the kitchen door [Verse 3] She did not like a stranger reaching out to say hello She’d measure every visitor before deciding where to go But Mom could hear her quiet needs, the ones she never said A hand allowed, a certain chair, the pillow by the bed [Chorus] Oh Sweetie, you were ours in your peculiar way A little queen with rules we learned to obey You loved your mom on your own terms, sweet and strong and true And somehow all the years grew softer because of you [Bridge] Then a man came through the doorway, and he stayed beside your mom You watched him like a question, careful, still, and calm Then a baby filled the house with a brand-new kind of sound And you kept taking it all in, from your favorite corner down [Verse 4] You had your ways of loving, and we learned them one by one A glance across the room could say the whole thing had been done You made a life of ordinary days feel strangely bright Then illness took the choice away, and we held you through the night [Final Chorus] Oh Sweetie, you were ours in your peculiar way A little queen we’ll carry every day You loved your mom on your own terms, and she loved you right back Now every bowl and empty chair keeps pointing to your track [Outro] Rest easy, Sweetie, where the quiet curtains sway Thank you for the years you kept the lonely hours away We’ll miss your grin, your guarded heart, your appetite for two Our peculiar, precious girl—there will never be another you
