Some childhood pasts weren’t framed by Norman Rockwell
No grand feast because the kitchen wasn’t stocked well
Maybe they don’t celebrate, in grade school they caught hell
These weren’t my history but my present, and I thought, well

My mother and sister hide in deserts and warm coasts
A decade now since I toasted family with bird roast
Not the crafting type, no sweaters knitted, scarves sewn
My holiday heart lives in a booth with the padding blown

Dinner at a diner known as Denny’s, seems the sadder
But the wrapper and the lining, they hardly matter
The spoons all clitter clatter stirring coffee stale and splatter
But it pales at the laughing where my chosen family gathers

Here at Denny’s. Yes at first it may sound tragic
It’s open and it’s warm, more tradition than a habit
I’m stacking sugar packets, in this cold December havoc
Blood replaced with deeper bond, all I had to do was grab it

Yeah I’ll meet you at Denny’s, to spread my Christmas cheer
The menu has plenty, have a burger or a beer
Might get the eggs benny, it’s the perfect time of year
To meet me at Denny’s, yeah I’ll meet you at Denny’s

Yeah I had an uncle Phil, Carl Winslow, Danny Tanner
But every show is cancelled, whether quick or short manner
And it seems the man who met all of those needs, the matter
That held me to my family was cancelled by his cancer

I don’t have an answer for this melancholy feeling
Holidays display the joy but often skip the meaning
With the absence of my lead role it started as retreating
It’s food that fills the loss, which fits my common theming

Christmas ham under two moons sitting on my plate
Like my slams grand size like the lone star state
Get a slice of apple pie, chicken fry my steak
Dinner’s late with my chosen family, got bread to break

For science sake, Christmas is, what I choose to make
Sit with underpaid servers with the underwhelming fate
To take a second rate supper out on mostly clean plates
I’ll skip the rum spiced cake for a sampler and a shake

Yeah I’ll meet you at Denny’s, to spread my Christmas cheer
The menu has plenty, have a burger or a beer
Might get the eggs benny, it’s the perfect time of year
To meet me at Denny’s, yeah, I’ll meet you at Denny’s