I hope you know when I say "family"
I mean the ones who truly loved me
Who put their guards down and held me closely
Through every scraped knee and playground bully
My big sister sacrificed her social life
To put my dinner on the table
And check for monsters in the closet

She grew up without an ounce of freedom or peace or privacy
But was always there for none other than me
And when I say sister I mean angel
Because she taught me the same

That love is not a hand out
And is not to be held over someone's head
It's more than a word
That respect is earned
And family will always come home
When I say mom

It's just a learned phrase because I don't have one
What do you really expect me to say?
To someone who always came home late
While avoiding every mistake she ever made
Just to complain that we didn't love her enough
Every day was a conversation of how we were wrong

And how that made a single mom look
After she chased her husband away
Calling cops to keep him there
Just to say he never tried
That he couldn't care less if we died
Some how you expect my thanks to be directed towards you

But that won't happen because the cycle repeats
Now I've got somewhere to be
A younger sibling who scraped her knee
Who needs lunch and homework ...