While I Was Away

By the time I made it home

You were already in bed

Chubby cheek pressed to your pillow

By a bedtime book you'd read

And I noticed that you looked older

Than you did yesterday

You've been growin' up

While I was away

You made a pile of leaves in the front yard

I guess it's already fall

By the look of those pictures your momma took

The two of you had a ball

And it made me glad but a little sad

To see those games you play

I missed

a lot of smiles

While I was away

And for every dollar I earn there's a lesson you learn without me there

And every day I'm on the go I'm prayin' that you know your daddy cared

'Cause the hardest part about workin' hard ain't the bills I gotta pay

It's you growin' up while I was away

And I found your note in the kitchen

It's a real work of art

A stickman holding your stick hand with "Daddy" written in a heart

And it got me good 'cause I understood

Just what you meant to say

You've been missin' me too

While I was away

And for every dollar I earn there's a lesson you learn without me there

And every day I'm on the go I'm prayin' that you know your daddy cared

'Cause the hardest part about workin' hard ain't the bills I gotta pay

It's you growin' up while I was away

You know the hardest part about workin' hard

Ain't the bills I gotta pay

It's everything I missed

While I was away