What they gives you blood? Three months man
Whatchu doin' in here anyway?
You oughta be home with your momma
How old are you boy? Thirteen
Thirteen? Damn, the bastards must be runnin' outta niggaz to arrest

Yeah, oh yeah, this goes out
To all the families that went through the struggle
(All that I got is you)
Yeah, from the heart
It was from the heart, everythin' was real
(And I'm so thankful I made it through)

Yo, dwellin' in the past, flashbacks when I was young
Whoever thought that I'd have a baby girl and three sons
I'm goin' through this difficult stage, I find it hard to believe
Why my old Earth had so many seeds

But she's an old woman and due to me I respect that
I saw life for what it's really worth and took a step back
Family ain't family no more, we used to play ball
Eggs after school, eat grits 'cause we was poor

Grab the pliers for the channel, fix the hanger on the TV
Rockin' each others pants to school wasn't easy
We survived winters, snotty nosed with no coats
We kept it real, but the older brother still had jokes

Sadly, daddy left me at the age of six
I didn't know nothin' but mommy neatly packed his shit
She cried, and grandma held the family down
I guess mommy wasn't strong enough, she just went down

Check it, fifteen of us in a three bedroom apartment
Roaches everywhere, cousins and aunts was there
Four in the bed, two at the foot, two at the head
I didn't like to sleep with Jon-Jon, he peed the bed

Seven o'clock, pluckin' roaches out the cereal box
Some shared the same spoon watchin' Saturday cartoons
Sugar water was our thing, every meal was no thrill
In the summer, free lunch held us down like steel

And there was days I had to go to Tex house with a note
Statin', "Gloria can I borrow some food ? I'm dead broke"
So embarrasin' I couldn't stand to knock on they door
My friends might be laughin', I spent stamps in stores

Mommy, where's the toilet paper? Use the newspaper
Look Miss Rose gave us a couch, she's the neighbor
Things was deep, my whole youth was sharper than cleats
Two brothers with muscular dystrophy, it killed me

But I remember this, mom's would lick her finger tips
To wipe the cold out my eye before school with her spit
Case worker had her runnin' back to face to face
I caught a case, housin' tried to throw us out of our place

Sometimes I look up at the stars and analyze the sky
And ask myself was I meant to be here, why?
Yeah, yo

All that I got is you
And I'm so thankful I made it through
All that I got is you
And I'm so thankful I made it through

All that I got is you
And I'm so thankful I made it through
All that I got is you
And I'm so thankful I made it through

I sit and think about all the times we did without bread
I always said I wouldn't cry when I saw tears in your eyes
I understand that daddy's not here now
But some way or somehow I will always be around, yeah

All things that I did from this to that
Oh, from drugs to bein' there
Bein' down and out and I love you always, oh

Yeah, you see, you see the universe
Which consists of the sun moon and star
And them planets that exist in my space
Like man woman and child, you understand?

We got to keep it real and what reality and
Reality will keep it real with us
I remember them good old days
Because see, that's the child I was
What made me the man I am today

See 'cause if you forget where you come from
You're never gonna make it where you're goin'
Because you lost the reality of yourself
So take one stroll through your mind and see what you will find
And you'll see a whole universe all over again
And again and again and again and again, yeah