Take a Tour of My Heart Gallery
Sam and Sophia 2006
As a divorced father, I greatly resent and mourn the fact that the system and my ex have conspired to give me a fraction of the time I deserve to spend with my own children. I am not a criminal. I have done nothing wrong. I love and need my kids and they love and need me. I have made and will continue to make every effort to be the best father I can be within the limited amount of time I have been given. I wrote this song back in 2005, before my divorce was even final – already missing my kids daily to the point of tears. You can listen to a rough demo by clicking the link below (you may want to right-click and open in a new window/tab so you can follow the lyrics):
Heart Gallery – © 2005 Marcus Rowe
It’s open all year ‘round
No charge for admission
Don’t have to drive all over town
It’s right here in the kitchen
With watercolor masterpieces painted just for me
Yes, at times, outside the lines, the way that it should be
There’s a picture of my little man with his favorite dinosaur in his hand
My sweet and sassy little blue-eyed girl with her famous Shirley Temple curls
They cover my refrigerator door and I wish I could see them more
One thing gets me through when they’re not here with me
I take a tour of my heart gallery
I lie awake at night
Longing for their laughter
Get up and hit the light
It ain’t a midnight snack I’m after
I need to see those angel faces smiling back at me
And all the priceless works of art held up by magnet ABC’s
Like the cross they made in Sunday school and the monster truck my little buddy drew
The yellow princess with the purple hair, I know my little princess put her there
They cover my refrigerator door and I wish I could see them more
One thing gets me through when they’re not here with me
I take a tour of my heart gallery
When every other weekend can’t come fast enough
I’m thankful for these pieces of the ones I love
They cover my refrigerator door and I wish I could see them more
One thing gets me through when they’re not here with me
I take a tour of my heart gallery
©2005 Marcus Rowe
Little Drops of Nectar 
Greetings Marcus,
I loved the song, and it broke my heart, not only for you and your children, but for my own kids.
I am divorced also, but my kids have the opposite problem…their father won’t commit to a regular schedule of visitation. He is too busy with the woman he left us for to schedule his life for the times when he can visit his children. It absolutely blows me away that he could get up and leave them and then not pursue time with them more actively. Trust me, apathy sets into kids when a parent is so lazy about wanting to visit. My youngest son doesn’t care to spend time with him for the most part now, and it’s sad to watch.
Good for you, and for your kids, that you care enough to want to spend time with them, and that you miss them when you can’t be together. I do hope that your situation can be resolved so that you get to spend more time with them going forward.
Waving hello from North Dakota,
Sparrow
VERY powerful! I never with held my son in my first marriage. The courts had their version of visitation but I was wide open with mine and I think it is awful when ex’s feel the need to use their kids as pawns. Kids need both parents and I commend you for being a real father and being as involved as you can be!
Knowing you as well as I do, I can attest to everyone out there that your particular situation is crap. You deserve a heck of a lot more time with your kids than what you currently have. In fact, if the stories of manipulative responses from your ex are accurate (as I believe that they are since I’ve read some myself), you certainly deserve primary custody…if not full custody. What true mother (or father, if the case) would put her children through such things and consider herself a good parent? Hmmmm…speaking of those things that make you go hmmmm. Anyway, you’ve been screwed by the system, and it’s less than fair…and if you ever need a character witness in court in an effort to get more custody, call me…or text me…or FB me. To the readers out there, Marcus is an amazing father!!!