The People Who Stay

There are songs you write because they sound good… And then there are songs you write because someone deserves to know what they’ve meant to your life. This song is for someone who became my family. When I was a teenager, I was lost, hurting, and trying to understand who I was. One morning, my aunt brought this incredible person into our home, and without even realizing it, that moment changed my life forever. She showed me that there wasn’t just one way to live or one way to love. She helped me believe that who I felt I was inside wasn’t something to be ashamed of—it was someone worth becoming. Life took us in different directions over the years, but love like this doesn’t disappear. Family isn’t always the people you’re born to. Sometimes it’s the people who keep choosing you, no matter how much time has passed. This song is my way of saying thank you—for helping me find myself, for loving the people I loved, for carrying pieces of my heart through some of the hardest days of my life, and for reminding me that chosen family can be just as powerful as the family we’re born into. If you’ve ever had someone who loved you into becoming the person you were always meant to be, I hope this song reminds you to tell them while you still can. To my chosen family… I love you more than words will ever be able to say.