Ode to Stella Ray

We'd go to grandma's when I was a boy
We'd travel for days in the car
So I could make a pirate ship out of your cellar
And climb that tree in the yard

And I'd listen to stories
That I'd heard before
Through the crack
Where the light snuck in under the door

And you'd always come in
To tell me goodnight
And you prayed with me
And I knew then, that I'd be all right

And you watched me grow up and was happy for me
When I joined the Coast Guard
But lord I wanted to be on the road
And play music with all my heart

And when I got out
I should have known what you'd say
When I called to tell you
The choice that I'd made

You said Brad just do
What your heart knows is right
You prayed for me
And I knew then, that I'd be all right

And I was playing the East Coast
When I got the call that cancer would take you away
And when I got there my mom was real tired
So I cancelled Phoenix to stay

And I saw a strength in you
I'd never seen
And grandma you showed me
What the word faith means.

We talked as long as we could
Late at night
We prayed together
And I knew then, that you'd be all right

We laughed when we could
And I joke with you
Grandma tell me where you buried the gold
And you'd lay there and laugh for a while
And calmly tell me no

But it occurs to me
As ours ways part
That you hid a piece of it
In each of our hearts

And I'm going to miss
You up in heaven tonight
And now you're my angel
And I know that I'll be all right