Highway 20 Ride

Ok, I can't stand it when people post song lyrics, even though now that I think about it, I've done it in the past. Even so, I absolutely love this song by the Zac Brown Band and had to post part of it:

I ride east every other Friday
But if I had it my way
A day would not be wasted on this drive
And I want so bad to hold you
Son, there’s things I haven't told you
Your mom and me couldn't get along

So I drive and I think about my life
And wonder why that I slowly die inside
Every time I turn that truck around
Right at the Georgia line
And I count the days
And the miles back home to you
On that Highway 20 ride

So when you drive
And the years go flying by
I hope you smile
If I ever cross your mind
It was the pleasure of my life
And I cherished every time
And my whole world
It begins and ends with you
On that Highway 20 ride....

First of all, I love the Zac Brown Band because their sound is incredible. Zac Brown's voice is so rich and smooth, I think I could listen to anything he sings, no matter the lyrics. But when I heard this song for the first time the other day, I just started to cry. It's a complete sentimental surprise in an album full of more lighthearted country lyrics.

You'd have to be pretty hard hearted not to be a little bit moved by this song, but it made me start thinking about when I was a kid. Every other Friday my dad picked us up for the weekend. In all honesty, most of the time I was pretty mad that I had to go at all. Divorce, especially a messy one, is so hard for kids to understand. The complete split of a family [in particular when it's not amiable] is one of the most unnatural and heartwrenching things. I remember how I felt, but I never thought about it from a dad's perspective before. This song reminds me that divorce can be pretty rough on the parent too. My favorite part: When the dad says he counts the days and miles back home to his son. To him, home is wherever his son is.