Girl in the Pictures

There's a girl in a picture with a crooked little smile,

Wearing mismatched socks and a dress that's out of style.

She's holding up a seashell like she's found a piece of gold,

She doesn't know the world is big,

she doesn't know she'll grow old.

There's a picture from the playground,

with her hair blown by the breeze,

Climbing up the tallest ladder,

swinging high above the trees.

There's a drawing taped beside her bed,

with colors running wild,

A little piece of yesterday,

a snapshot of a child.

I turn another page,

and it's strange to realize,

I've been watching someone grow up right before my eyes.

Who's the girl in the pictures?

With the whole world in her hands?

Making castles out of blankets,

Making kingdoms out of sand.

She was living in the moment,

never thinking it would end,

Never knowing she'd look back and wish to see those days again.

She's a stranger and she's someone that I've known my whole life

through, The girl in the pictures…

She's the girl I grew into.

There's a photo from the summer with the grass stains on her

knees, Standing underneath the sprinkler,

shouting, "Look at me!"

There's a picture of her barefoot,

chasing fireflies at night,

With a jar held in her fingers and her face lit up

with light. And a drawing of her future home with a dog

she hasn't met, Then the pictures start to change a little,

somewhere down the line.

Different clothes and different places,

different thoughts inside her mind.

Her

smile

looks a little older,

but her eyes are still the same,

And I wonder if that little girl would recognize my name.

I close the book,

then open it again,

Trying to find the moment childhood reached its end.

Maybe one day there'll be pictures

Of the places I have been,

Of the dreams I chased with courage,

Of the times I tried again.

Maybe someone flipping pages Will see more than just my face,

They'll see every little chapter That no camera could replace.

And if I ever miss the childhood That I thought would always

stay, I'll remember growing older

Doesn't take those years away.

I'm the girl in the pictures,

And I'm still becoming me.

I'm the child who chased the summer,

I'm the girl with dreams to see.

I don't have to live behind me,

I don't have to press rewind,

I can treasure who I used to be And still look toward

what's mine.

All those faces, all those places,

Every laugh and every tear,

They're not just a stack of photographs— They're the reason I am

here.

And the girl inside those pictures Will be part of all I

do,

She's not someone I left behind… She's someone I grew through.

I'll put the pictures back now,

But I'll leave the memories near.

That little girl is still a part of me,

Even as I grow from here.

(grow from here)