Heart-Touching Family Performance: Michael Bennett, Wife & Son – “Never Walked Alone”

I was 17 slamming doors, shouting things I can't ignore, said I don't need you anymore then I walked right out that door. Mama crying in the light, tears falling through the night, daddy standing cold and still, never said what he might feel. I thought silence meant you didn't care, didn't know your love was there. I watched headlights fade away, prayed you'd make it through the day, but couldn't chase, saw the hurt upon your face. Left a light on every night, hoping you would find what's right, love don't leave when you walk out, it just learns to live with doubt. I stood quiet at the door, felt a weight I can't ignore, a man won't beg his son to stay, but I prayed you'd find your way. So I let you face the world I never showed, left that front door open wide, hoping you'd come back inside. I thought I had to prove I was stronger, you were just afraid to fall, I was trying to make you ready. We're hurting in one home, but we never let it show, I was running from your love, you were holding me below. Through the silence, through the pride, through the tears we kept inside, I walked out, I walked away, but you never left my side. You never left. You never left my side. Tears went rolling like the wind, different roads I tried to win, every night I felt so strong, every morning felt so wrong. Now I see you in my face, in the lines I can't erase, everything I tried to lose was the thing that pulled me through. I still set your place at night, even when you're out of sight, some kind of love don't fade away. It just waits another day, I knew life would bring you back, through the pain and through the cracks. Not through words I couldn't say, but through roads that make you stay. If I could go back, I wouldn't walk out. I would. You don't have to go back. You may. But I never said it. I love you, Mom. I love you. Dad. We always knew. In the spaces in between. Every word we never said. Still became everything. Through the distance, through the years. Through the unspoken fears. I was never truly lost. You were with me all those years. Now I feel you in my soul. In every step, I finally know. I'm your son. And I never walked alone. Always there. Always. I know. That was absolutely wonderful.