I Swear

My youngest son and I took a little road trip recently. We drove to the beach for a long weekend, just the two of us.

I put him in charge of music for the road and he made a few CDs for us to listen to. He had everything on them from Boys II Men to The Beastie Boys. We sang along all the way to the beach.

Somewhere along the way the song, I Swear, performed by All 4 One came on the CD player in the car. It's a touching song, the lyric written by Frank Meyers, and recorded earlier by country singer, John Michael Montgomery. The lyric is a sort of vignette of vows and promises made.


I swear by the moon and the stars in the sky
And I swear like the shadow that's by your side

My youngest child (what child he's 15!) loves music, all kinds of music. While his favorite bands are The Foo Fighters and Shinedown and a bunch of others I have never heard of, he also likes the music I listen to. He steals my mp3, lifts CDs from my collection and visits my Imeem page. He has an uncanny knack for memorizing song lyrics quickly and can sing along with most anything.

I'll stand beside you through the years
You'll only cry those happy tears
And though I make mistakes
I'll never break your heart

So as we were singing along to I Swear I'm thinking about what a special kid he is. He's a big kid, athletic, the Center and a Linebacker on his Freshman football team. He plays a lot of playground basketball lately, has a girlfriend and a wicked sense of humor. He's a budding man, growing up right before my eyes and so sweetly sensitive he takes my breath away sometimes.

I'll give you every thing I can
I'll build your dreams with these two hands
We'll hang some memories on the wall

As we sang I started to feel the song, the lyric started to get to me. My voice had a catch in it from the tightness that gathered in my throat. I missed a line, lost my words and couldn't cover so quickly as I would have liked.

And when (and when) just the two of us are there
You won't have to ask if I still care
Cause as the time turns the page
My love won't age at all

He reached over the console and covered my hand with his. A hand now bigger than mine, a hand I held not long ago to cross a street, to walk through a schoolyard, to walk to a playground. A hand that looks suspiciously like a man's, the man he will soon become. He smiled at me and kept on singing. My voice returned and joined his. We kept on going and I kept on thinking, thinking abut this almost man seated next to me.

I swear like the shadow that's by your side
I'll be there
For better or worse
Till death do us part
I'll love you with every beat of my heart

Sometimes he's the tie that binds, he's the bridge over certain of my gaps. Sometimes he's my saving grace. Sometimes he's the reason that a lot of things make sense to me. Sometimes he is the sense in my life. Sometimes he's the reason I am sure of the direction I am going.

I swear.
Indeed.