They tell me you ran around his grave at the funeral
Laughing and playing with your little sisters without a care
I’d like to think you were to young to understand
But I know better, for you already could see then
Beyond your five years into a fatherless future
You hid it so well then and still do now
Behind a crumbling fortress of adolescent innocence
Though the evidence of uncelebrated Father’s Days
And added responsibility sometimes breaks through

Your sweet freshman smile and gentle spirit
I think it is then that I am proud to know you
A young woman of strength.