Still That Girl in the Mall

Still That Girl in the Mall

[Verse 1]
A friend said there's a girl that I should meet,
So I put on my cowboy hat and boots upon my feet.
At Alderwood Mall in two thousand three,
You walked around that corner, straight into my destiny.
We sat across at dinner, talking half the night,
A week later you moved in, and everything felt right.
On Whidbey Island beaches, with our dreams beneath the stars,
We didn't have a dollar, but the whole wide world was ours.

[Verse 2]
Two black Labs were our babies, long before the rest,
We held them close for years, now heaven holds them next.
Five years we prayed for children, wondering if they'd come,
Then God filled up our empty rooms with seven little ones.
Taylor, Madison, Emily, then Cameron came along,
Gracelyn, Emmett, Adeline, seven reasons to be strong.
And little Dean made us grandparents, a blessing from above,
Who knew that night at Alderwood could grow this much love?

[Chorus]
And I'd do it all again, every mile and every tear,
Every broken road we traveled, every hard and beautiful year.
I'd choose you in the sunshine, I'd choose you in the rain,
I'd hold you through the heartbreak, I'd fall in love again.
'Cause home was never Wisconsin, or Washington's blue skies,
It was always in your arms, looking in your eyes.
And if God gave me one more life, I know just what I'd do,
I'd find that girl in the crowded mall, and fall in love with you.

[Verse 3]
We drove our motorhome through the mountains and the plains,
Florida sunshine, Arizona desert rain.
California sunsets, and a thousand miles between,
Seven kids and countless memories, living out our dreams.
We packed our lives in boxes, left familiar roads behind,
From Washington to Wisconsin, chasing better days to find.
Now we're back among the mountains, where our story first began,
And after all these winding roads, I'd choose you once again.

[Verse 4]
Taylor's out in Hawaii, so far across the sea,
Madison's back in Wisconsin, where she's studying for her dreams.
I watched you hold your tears in as we had to drive away,
And wished that I could turn around and make our babies stay.
The little ones keep growing, and time won't slow its pace,
I see the years we've lived together written on your face.
And though our house is noisy now, someday it'll be still,
But when the children all have gone, I'll be loving you still.

[Bridge]
We had nights we almost ended, when goodbye was at the door,
When love felt like a battle we couldn't fight no more.
But we held on through the darkness, learned forgiveness through the pain,
And somehow found each other, fell in love again.
Nearly twenty-four years later, with the years upon our hands,
I'm still that young cowboy, and you're still my promised land.

[Final Chorus]
And I'd do it all again, every mile and every tear,
Every sleepless night and every beautiful year.
I'd choose our seven children, every prayer God answered true,
Every highway, every heartbreak, if it led me back to you.
And someday when we're older, walking Whidbey's shores again,
I'll hold your hand and thank the Lord for where our lives have been.
And if heaven gave me one more chance to start it all anew,
I'd put that cowboy hat back on, and come looking for you.

[Outro]
When the last child leaves the driveway,
And our hair has turned to gray,
I'll still see you walking toward me,
Like I did that first day.

And if someone says, "There's a girl you ought to meet,"
I'll smile beneath my cowboy hat, and say so tenderly,
"I know her. She's my whole world.
And I'd choose her endlessly."