V E R S E

We had a little house on Ridgeway, supposed to buy it someday

I managed the Paint Room, long hours, good pay

Kathryn kept the home fires glowing, cooking in the oven every night

Our baby girl running circles around our legs in the evening light

The boys in the Shop were like family - Steve, Todd, Larry, and Dave

We turned that place into Gold, while the owner just misbehaved

V E R S E 2

Insurance Men loved us, work poured in like rain

but the man signing checks couldn’t stand watching us gain

Tried to pay me in fake diamonds; thought I’d play his game

Kathryn smiled through the hurt; but I took that ring back all-the-same

Then one day she walked in, cookies warm in her hands

Four months pregnant, our daughter on her hip, pure love in her heart

P R E - C H O R U S

He grabbed her arm like it was nothing, tried to drag her out the door

Todd stepped up like thunder; 6-foot-4 and ready for war

I wanted the same, but I swallowed it down

that night, I learned what a man would do when the devil comes for you

‘Cause my family needed that paycheck still coming around

C H O R U S

Ridgeway Avenue glory, in a little house full of grace

Two kids, one angel wife with Heaven written on her face

We didn’t have much, but we had it all

when that boy cried his first breath, I watched my whole world fall

into place, into grace, into love that won’t fade

We were rich on Ridgeway

V E R S E 3

Twenty-four hours of labor, she never lost her smile

Steve and Amanda were right there, praying the whole long while

when they laid him in her arms, her face lit up the room

like the Sun came up early in that hospital gloom

I stood there as Heaven’s doors opened, holding all I’ll ever need

a daughter’s tiny fingers and a brand new son to lead

B R I D G E

Sometimes the Devil shows his teeth in the people you trust

sometimes the blessing comes wrapped in paint and dust

but God kept driving straight with the crooked nails we knew

and gave us one more miracle, our baby boy, Dean

C H O R U S

Ridgeway Avenue glory, where a family was born

Two kids, one good woman, and a man forever transformed

We didn’t have much, but we had it all

Every heartbeat in that house still echoes down these halls

I still feel her hand, still hear her laugh, still see that morning glow

on Ridgeway Avenue … where the best of my life was sown

Thank you for the cookies, thank you for the fight

Thank you for the 24-hours that turned darkness into light

Thank you for the woman who made a poor man rich

One Ridgeway Avenue … Lord, thank you.