When I noticed her the first time,  I was outside running barefoot in the rain  She lived in the house next door  Her nose was pressed against the windowpane    When I looked at her, she smiled  And showed a place where two teeth used to be  And I heard her ask her mom if she  Could come outside and play with me    But soon, the days of sand and shovels  Gave way to the mysteries of life  And I noticed she was changing  And I looked at her through different eyes    We became as one and knew a love  Without beginning or an end  And every day I lived with her  Was like a new day dawning once again    And I've loved her since  Every doll was Shirley Temple  Sodapop was still a nickel  Jam was on her fingertips  Milk was circled on her lips    After many years, our love fell silent  And at night, I heard her cry  And when she left me in the fall,  I knew that it would be our last goodbye    I was man enough to give her  Everything she needed for a while  But searching for a perfect love,  I found that I could not give her a child    Now, she lives a quiet life  And is a mother of a little girl  And every time I pass her house,  My thoughts go back into another world    Because I see her little girl  Her nose is pressed against the windowpane  She thinks I'm a lonely man  Who wants to come inside out of the rain    And I've loved her since  Every doll was Shirley Temple  Sodapop was still a nickel  Jam was on her fingertips  Milk was circled on her lips  (fade out)