On the top shelf in the closet, in the workshop where he spent his extra time 
Was a dusty wooden box that I had never noticed 'til that night 
Then we set it on the table and carefully we opened up the top 
And stared into the memories daddy kept inside the box 

There was a letter from Mamma, when she went out to Reno 
To help her sister out in '62 
And a flower from Hawaii when they went on vacation 
It was the first time that my Daddy ever flew 

And the pocket knife I gave to him on Fathers day 
Years ago I thought it had been lost 
We all thought his heart was made of solid rock 
But that was long before we found the box 

I guess we always knew it, but 'I love you' was hard for him to say 
Some men show it easily and some just never seem to find the way 
But that night I began to see the softer side of someone I had lost 
I saw the love he kept inside the first time that we opened up the box 

There was a picture that was taken when he and mom were dating
Standing by his 1940 Ford 
And a faded leather Bible, he got when he was baptized 
I guess no one understood him like the Lord 

And a poem that he had written all about his wife and children 
The tender words he wrote were quite a shock 
We all thought his heart was made of solid rock 
But that was long before we found the box 
We all thought his heart was made of solid rock 
But that was long before we found the box