All I Have to Give

So when I met your mom

I was, uh, a level of broke

That I’m not sure—

I mean I hope

--You will never fully understand

I was broke

I was, uh, you know

Poor

The word is poor

And the only break my family ever got

Was having our house be

Right on the line

Where the good school district started

And that meant I got to go

To the good high school

And that’s where I met your mom

And your mom

And her family

They were not broke

They were not poor

They had money

Like money, money

And, uh, your mom

Was just—

She was like something

Out of a movie

The first time I saw her

And I remember

I let three years go by
Where I was just, you know

Pining after this girl

But my clothes were always shabby

And I walked to school

Because I couldn’t afford a car

And I had to work at the Burger King

Over in Scoville

Just to help out my family

And, uh, there was a lot of

You know, shame there

I couldn’t even really afford

A ticket to prom

And so I wasn’t going to go

And then, uh, oh man

Sorry

I know you don’t want

To see your dad get all choked up

That’s not cool

But, uh—

I was standing at my locker one day

And I look to my side

And your mom was there

Like, I didn’t even see her

She was just there

And she asked me

To go to prom with her

And then, she just like,

Held out a ticket to me

Like, of course I was going to say yes

And what you have to realize is

Everybody wanted to take your mom

To the prom

Everybody

So I thought it was one big joke

Like she was going to Carrie me

Or something

But I didn’t even care

Because I had been in love with her

For YEARS at that point

So we go to prom

And we have an amazing time

At one point

They played ‘All I Have to Give’

Which was, like,

Kind of too spot-on

But it was still this awesome moment

Of dancing with this girl

And I looked at her

And I asked her

Why she wanted

To go to prom with me

And she said

She’d had a crush on me

For years

Which, like, blew my mind

And I told her so

And she was like ‘Why?’

And I said, ‘Because I’m nobody’

And I could see her hear that

And just like—refuse it

Like, refuse to hear it from me

That I was nobody

And she asked me why I said it

And I started telling her

About how my family is broke

And it’s just me, my mom, and my two sisters

And I have to work all the time

Just to help out

And I haven’t even gotten new shoes

Since I was a freshman

And how ashamed I was

Of the whole thing

And your mom

This woman

This beautiful young woman

I was dancing with

Looked at me and said—

‘Be proud of you who are

Not what you have’

And that’s when I knew

I was going to do everything

In my power

To be with this woman

For the rest of my life