When She Flies

Today Dana and Jorge celebrate their fourth wedding anniversary. In honor of the occasion, I'm posting the lyrics to a song I wrote for Dana when she graduated from Middle School. At the time, the song expressed my hopes and dreams for her. Now it's a song of thanks, because God has more than answered my prayers.

Congratulations, DB and Jorge!

When She Flies
David Barnes, 1997

When I was ten, I was coming home from playing ball next door
And I found a baby sparrow on the ground by our back porch.
I raised it in a shoebox nest ‘til it was nearly grown
And I asked my Dad for wire and wood to make my bird a home.

Dad said, "Son, I'm proud of you; you've given everything.
But what she now needs most of all is the freedom to take wing.
Letting go is hard to do, but if you don't say good-bye,
You can hold her and love her, but you'll never see her fly.

"When she flies, she'll ride the winds of freedom
And the sky's the limit to all that she can be.
A whole new world will open to her
When she leaves your world behind.
But a part of you goes with her when she flies."

It seems like only yesterday, when we brought our daughter home.
Like a little bird, so helpless, couldn't make it on her own.
But we nurtured her and raised her like the Good Book said we should.
And now a fine young lady stands where my baby girl once stood.

Like my Daddy told me, I've given everything.
But what she now needs most of all is the freedom to take wing.
Letting go is hard to do, but if I don't say good-bye,
I can hold her and love her, but I'll never see her fly.

When she flies, she'll ride the winds of freedom
And the sky's the limit to all that she can be.
A whole new world will open to her
When she leaves my world behind.
But a part of me goes with her, when she flies.

When she's grown and on her own, it's then I'll truly see:
It's worth the cost of letting go to see her flying free.

When she flies, she'll ride the winds of freedom
And the sky's the limit to all that she can be.
A whole new world is opening to her
As she leaves my world behind.
And it's a wondrous sight to see her when she flies.
It's a wondrous sight to see her when she flies.