She Wore A Yellow Ribbon

She wore a yellow ribbon
For the love she never knew

He walked into her life
When he sat down in her chair
Opened up his heart
She began to cut his hair

She started her story
'Bout how she'd gotten there
The neglect and abuse
She'd been handed over the years

She talked about her momma
And how she'd gotten bored and left
Gave her to her daddy
Who beat her half to death

She talked of her nanny
And her papa's saving grace
And how when they adopted her
They took her from that place

She told of a man
Whom she thought was great
'Til at the age of ten
When she fell victim to his rape

At sixteen she fell in love
With the man whose baby she carried
But he ran off with her best friend
The two of them were married

Her nanny didn't understand
And couldn't face disgrace
So she packed up all her bags
Took her to a far off place

She went to work and met a man
Who took her for his wife
Said he'd accept her son
And let him share his life

Together they had a girl
Her boy became a pain
Even though she tried and tried
Things just weren't the same

One day he threw a fit
And hit her in the mouth
She packed up all their bags
The three of them moved out

Now it was just about then
That she'd finished up his cut
She took off the apron
He thanked her then stood up

He handed her a twenty
And said just keep the change
He walked away from there
But was never quite the same

A few weeks later
With her memory still in his mind
He called and asked
If she'd like to go out with him sometime

It just so happened
The county fair was in town
When he picked her up
The rain was pouring down

With the hope of love in his heart
And the luck of a winner
He changed the plans that he had made
To a movie and some dinner

He held her during the movie
And they talked quite a bit
About their hopes and dreams
And each others kids

During the drive home
Things felt so right
He walked her to her car
And gave her a kiss goodnight

It was way to late
For a woman to be out alone
He followed her in his car
To her grandmothers home

She unlocked the door
And she began to walk inside
He rolled down his window
And he waved to her good-bye

On his way back home
He kept thinking of that day
And wondered
If they'd meet again and have another date

They went on many other dates
And seemed to get along
After five months of dating
Nothing had gone wrong

They took a short trip
He asked her to be his wife
She said she loved him
And would the rest of her life

They started out poor
With a house and three kids
Worked hard together
To improve the way they lived

He worked late evenings
And weekends to
She kept cutting hair
While her client list grew

Finally opportunity came
It knocked right on their door
He wanted to plan for a future
But she didn't love him any more

Oh what a woman
What a dream come true
She used to wear a yellow ribbon
For a love she never knew

She still wears a yellow ribbon
Sadly on her chest
No longer for the love she never knew
But the love she knew and left