[Intro One: The Education of Sonny Carson] 'What they gives you, blood?' 'Three months, man.' 'Whatchu doin in here anyway? You oughta be home with your momma. How old are you boy?' 'Thirteen.' 'Thirteen? Damn, the ba*tards must be runnin' outta n***as to arrest.' [Intro: Ghostface] Yeah, ohh yeah, this goes out To all the families that went through the struggle Yeah, from the heart It was all from the heart, everything was real [Mary J.] All that I got is you And I'm so thankful I made it through [Verse 1: Ghostface k**ah] Yo, dwellin' in the past, flashbacks when I was young Whoever thought that I'd have a baby girl and three sons I'm goin' through this difficult stage I find it hard to believe Why my Old Earth had so many seeds But she's her own woman, and dude in me I respect that I saw life for what it's really worth and took a step back Family ain't family no more, we used to play ball Eggs after school, eat grits cause we was poor Grab the pliers for the channel, fix the hanger on the TV Rockin each others pants to school wasn't easy We survived winters, snotty nosed with no coats We kept it real, but the older brother still had jokes Sadly, daddy left me at the age of six I didn't know nuttin' but mommy neatly packed his sh** She cried, and grandma held the family down I guess mommy wasn't strong enough, she just went down Check it, fifteen of us in a three bedroom apartment Roaches everywhere, cousins and aunts was there Four in the bed, two at the foot, two at the head I didn't like to sleep with Jon-Jon he peed the bed Seven o'clock, pluckin' roaches out the cereal box Some shared the same spoon, watchin' Saturday cartoons Sugar water was our thing, every meal was no frills In the summer, free lunch held us down like steel And there was days I had to go to Tech's house with a note Stating "Gloria can I borrow some food I'm dead broke" So embarrasin' I couldn't stand to knock on they door My friends might be laughin', I spent stamps in stores Mommy where's the toilet paper, use the newspaper Look Ms. Rose gave us a couch, she's the neighbor Things was deep, my whole youth was sharper than cleats Two brothers with muscular dystrophy, it k**ed me But I remember this, moms would lick her finger tips To wipe the coal out my eye before school wit her spit Case worker had her runnin' back to face to face I caught a case, housin' tried to throw us out of our place Sometimes I look up at the stars and an*lyze the sky And ask myself was I meant to be here... why? Yeah, yo [Hook: Mary J. Blige] All that I got is you And I'm so thankful I made it through All that I got is you And I'm so thankful I made it through All that I got is you And I'm so thankful I made it through All that I got is you And I'm so thankful I made it through All that I got is you And I'm so thankful I made it through [Ghostface during the hook] Word up mommy, I love you Word up It was all you, word, you brought me in like this [Verse 2: Mary J. Blige] I sit and think about All the times we did without, yeah I always said I woudn't cry When I saw tears in your eyes I understand that daddy's not here now But some way or somehow, I will always be around, yeah All the things that I did from this to them Oh from d** to being there Being down and out and I love you always [Verse 3: Poppa Wu] Yeah, you say You see the universe, which consists of the sun moon and star And them planets, that exist in my space Like man woman and child You understand? We got to keep it real, and what reality And reality will keep it real with us I remember them good ol' days Because see, that's the child I was What made me the man I am today See cause if you forget where you come from, heheh You're never gonna make it where you're goin', aheh Because you lost the reality of yourself So take one stroll through your mind And see what you will find And you'll see a whole universe all over again And again and again and again and again