I watched you learn the shape of morning From a crib beside the wall I saw your first uncertain footsteps And waited underneath each fall I heard the questions of your childhood Before the world supplied replies I kept the monsters from the hallway And guarded wonder in your eyes I am a stuffed animal A small witness to your life I never stood inside the spotlight But I stayed through every night I watched your school days fill with changes New friends arriving, old ones gone I heard you practice being fearless Before you carried courage on I knew your first and quiet heartbreak The name you whispered into me I watched you find a larger future Than any child could clearly see I am a stuffed animal A small witness by your side I saw the tears behind your triumphs And the hope you tried to hide I moved through houses, rooms, and boxes From childhood shelves to grown-up beds I watched the years reshape your features While every memory softly spread I saw you choose a life worth living And question every choice you made I watched you lose, begin, recover And build new dreams from what remained I never needed recognition Or thanks for staying through it all My greatest role was simply knowing Who you were behind each wall One day I may become a story You tell while holding someone new An old companion from a lifetime Who silently grew old with you I am a stuffed animal Your life made every stitch a part A little witness made of cotton With an everlasting heart When photographs have lost their colors And names grow distant with the years My faded body will remember Your smallest laughter, largest tears I am a stuffed animal No hero history will name Just proof that through your changing lifetime Someone loved you all the same
