In August I got a call from Mom.
She was gonna have another surgery to repair one
Of her vertebrae that had been eaten up by a tumor.
Her cancer was now spreading into her bones.
"I'll come home."
"Good. I want you to be here."
(Sung)
Visits to you are suddenly knew and
Suddenly everything's sacred
I've been here before,
Will I be here again?
Please tell me you'll never be taken
(Spoken)
"Hi, Momma.
I'll be waiting for you when you get out."
"I don't wanna do this!"
"You'll be okay."
(Sung)
Is this another time? Or is this the last time?
How much more time?
When will time take away my visits to you?
(Spoken)
Hours and hours passed in the waiting room.
I was so tired of hospitals and
Waiting rooms and hospital food and
Waiting and waiting and waiting!
Finally, an orderly told us she'd made it through.
(Sung)
Living with this, holding your hand
Knowing I'll have to let go soon
Living right now and right now and right now
Knowing I'll soon be without you
(Spoken)
Back in New York I went to a friend's Indeed Meeting.
"I wish I knew how much longer she has."
"Of course you do, and there's no way to know for sure.
She'll go when it's her time."
"I just really wanna be there when it happens."
"I hear you, and you may and you may not and
That has to be okay."
(Sung)
Is this another time? Or is this the last time?
How much more time?
When will time take away my visits to you?
(Spoken)
On one of my flights, I remembered a story Mom told me
From her early days as a nurse.
"I was taking care of this little boy and
He was terminally ill
But he kept hanging on.
He just wouldn't die!
It was so sad.
And his parents were giving him so much love
But he was in so much pain and
It really was his time.
"So, finally, some of us nurses told his father,
'You have to tell your son it's okay for him to go.
You have to give him permission.'
And so the father took his son in his arms
And told him it was okay to go and, well,
After a few moments,
He died."
(Sung)
And when you go where your going, where will you be going?
I know I'll keep going
On my visits to you
(Spoken)
"Hi, Momma.
How're you feeling?"
"Oh, pretty good.
But I'm getting very tired of all this.
I wish I could just be normal again."
"I hear you, Momma."
"I sometimes wish it was just all over, you know?"
"Yeah, Momma, I do."
"I mean, I wanna be here so I can see you kids grow up
And see all of the wonderful things that are gonna happen
For all of you
But, sometimes, it's just so hard
To feel so awful all of the time."
"Momma. I just want you to know that
If you need to go, you can go.
I'll miss you and I'll be very, very sad
But I'll be okay."
"Oh, Tony."
(Sung)
Is this another time? Or is this the last time?
How much more time?
When will time take away my visits
Is this another time? Or is this the last time?
How much more time?
When will time take away?
When will time take away?
When will time take away my visits to you