One day my hair will shine like winter My hands may tremble when they sew My steps may take a little longer And there may be fewer roads to go The room may change to something smaller The names outside may all be new But somewhere near my chair or pillow I will still make a place for you Even when I’m old I will not let you go You knew me when the years were endless When every dream had room to grow When faces fade and dates grow distant One truth my heart will always know Even when I’m old I will not let you go I’ll tell the nurses you are family I’ll tell my visitors your name They may believe I’m only joking But I will mean it all the same We’ll watch the afternoon grow golden And hear the sparrows near the glass You’ll help me hold the scattered pieces Of every season that has passed Even when I’m old You’ll be my doorway home To childhood rooms and midnight whispers To every place that I have known Your threadbare face will still remind me I was loved before I knew Even when I’m old I will keep growing old with you Perhaps my memory will wander And lose the words I want to say But hands remember certain comforts Long after names have slipped away I’ll recognize the shape beside me The softness worn by my embrace And somewhere underneath the silence A younger heart will know your face No one should call you only clutter Or clear you from the room for space You are the oldest living chapter Of a life I chose to save Even when I’m old And evening shadows start to grow I’ll hold the friend who crossed the decades Through every high and every low When it is time to rest my story You’ll be the final friend I know Even when I’m old I will never let you go
