The doctor said with joy   "A healthy baby boy"   October 4th of 1925      His parents had a plan   He'd live a better life   Be a man of means   Who knows, he might go really far      And then the days slipped by   And turned into years   And many pages turned in the story of his life      Took a detour through a war   Cast a shadow across his soul   October 4th of 1944      Stories he would never tell   So he had to write them down to keep them captive   On Veteran's Day he pulls them out   It's a cleansing of the soul and a freeing of his mind      He didn't change the world   But he eventually met a girl   Their child would be his only legacy      And so he cried to God   "It's not what I had planned   And there's one more thing   I'll never understand      How did the days slip by   When did they turn into years?"   How many pages did you get for the story of your life?      Call it what you will, name it tragedy   But in the end he just looks back and smiles   It's just his life