From the recordings The Stories We Carry and Teaching Me Every Day
I thought I was the one teaching my granddaughter about life. Turns out, she was teaching me. A song about slowing down, seeing the world through a child's eyes, and discovering that sometimes the smallest hands teach us life's biggest lessons
Lyrics
[Verse 1]
She took my hand and slowed me down
Turned a short walk into sacred ground
Every crack in the sidewalk talked
Like it held more truth than years I’d lost
A little time in her wide-eyed view
Had me rethinking what I thought I knew
I thought I was showing the way
But I was learning every day
[Pre-Chorus]
I spent years thinking I knew it all
Running hard just to feel ten feet tall
Didn’t see it till I slowed my pace
What I was chasing was already in front of my face
[Chorus]
I thought I was teaching ’em how to live
How to be strong, how to never quit
But a little hand holding onto mine
Taught me more in a second than a lifetime
They don’t need to know where I’ve been
They just see the best part of who I am
Yeah, I thought I was showing the way
Turns out they were teaching me every day
[Verse 2]
Three small steps for every one of mine
Her whole world fits in this moment of time
She points at clouds like they know her name
Stops to laugh in the middle of the lane
She don’t see the miles I’ve already run
Or the years that taught me who I’ve become
She just holds my hand like that’s all she needs
And that’s enough for me
[Pre-Chorus]
I spent years thinking I knew it all
Running hard just to feel ten feet tall
Didn’t see it till I slowed my pace
What I was chasing was already in front of my face
[Chorus]
I thought I was teaching ’em how to live
How to be strong, how to never quit
But a little hand holding onto mine
Taught me more in a second than a lifetime
They don’t need to know where I’ve been
They just see the best part of who I am
Yeah, I thought I was showing the way
Turns out they were teaching me every day
[Bridge]
She don’t know the man I used to be
The nights I ran from what scared me
She just believes I’m all I am
Every time she reaches for my hand
And all the things I thought I still had to prove
Fade out walking slow next to you
[Final Chorus]
I thought I was teaching ’em how to live
How to be strong, how to never quit
But a little hand holding onto mine
Taught me more in a second than a lifetime
They don’t need to know where I’ve been
They just see the best part of who I am
Yeah, I thought I was showing the way
Turns out they were teaching me every day
[Outro]
With a little hand holding onto mine
Yeah, they’re teaching me every day