Better Than Before

The memories are there
Somewhere
Find some pictures you can share
Keepsakes of the life that's
There behind her.

Keep it light at first, that's best
Careful that she's not distressed
When the time's right
Tell the rest
Remind her
You'll find her.

So let's start with something small
Something personal and pretty
I bet you'll know these shiny things.

They must be tacky trinkets from, I guess, Atlantic City?
No, actu'ly Di
They're our wedding rings
It's going well.

Here's a flower from our wedding
You were such a sight to see
And the ceremony everything we'd hoped
Um, Dad?
Well that's how I remember it
So that's how it'll be.

It was raining
It was Portland
You eloped
I mean, Portland?

It's an open book to write here
It's a life we can restore
We can get back what we had
And maybe more
Maybe get us back to better
Than before.

Here's the year we drove the west
We hit the highway in the Honda
And I took pictures
Everywhere we went
We saw the painted desert
The Grand Canyon
And Aunt Rhonda
And Nat learned what
Her middle finger meant.

Here's the first house that we owned
On Walton Way, we loved that place
Then we built this one on land
That we both chose
And here's a pic of all of us
With smiles on ev'ry face
And the photoshopping
Hardly even shows.

We're standing by a lake
With all theses ducks?
And who's this little chubby girl?
That's Natalie
This sucks.

Gonna get us back to normal
Gonna get us back to good
Gonna get back what we had
And maybe more.

Gonna get us back to good times
And forget the things we should
Gonna get us back to better than before
We can get things back to better than before.

All right. Fine
Here's the headline in the paper
When you freaked out at the market
Here's the house on Walton Way
After the fire
Natalie
Here's the damage to the Honda
When you showed me how to park it.

Did we crush somebody's cat beneath the tire?
Yes. Ours
Here's dad at my recital
And we're wond'ring where you are.
I remember this
I made it to the school
Wait, you remember?
It was the year of too much lithium
I hid out in the car
Yes!
And your swim meet
Just last year
I'm in the pool
So you are.

You're getting it!
You've got it, Di!
Hooray!
Your life has kind of sucked
I think.

[Dan:] (Diana:)
You got it! Yay!
Hooray! [Hooray!] (Hooray!)
Gonna get back what I lost there
Gonna find out who I was
Gonna open up the gates and let it pour.

And if mem'ry makes things better
Well, mem'ry always does
Gonna get us back to better than before
Make ev'rything much better than before.

Won't anything be
Better than before?
I guess is must be
Better than before
Better than before.