Verse 1
Nicole has walked through fires that would bring most people down
She gave a hundred hours a week just holding others up from the ground
Two jobs, two worlds, and a heart that never once said no
Carrying the weight of everyone while carrying her own
She's been broken in the places that nobody else could see
Hurt by hands that should have held her, lost in storms she didn't choose to be

Pre-Chorus
But through every fall, through every scar, through every silent cry
There were arms that didn't leave her, there were eyes that stayed nearby
They saw the worst of what was done and still they chose to stay
And because of them, Nicole is here today

Chorus
My Work Family — you are the ones who never left my side
You held me through the darkness, you were shelter through the tide
Every shoulder, every hug, every year you stood by me
I would not be standing here without my Work Family

Verse 2
Eighteen years of showing up for children who needed care
Thirteen more beside the ones the world too often left to fend out there
Nicole, you gave your everything before you kept a thing
And the ones who stood beside you watched you give and watched you bleed
They never turned away and they never looked the other way
They lent their ears, they held her tears and chose to stay

Pre-Chorus
When the ones who should have loved her were the ones who left her bruised
Her Work Family became the proof that love is something that you choose
They didn't owe her anything, they stayed because they cared
And in her hardest chapters, every one of them was there

Chorus
My Work Family — you are the ones who never left my side
You held me through the darkness, you were shelter through the tide
Every shoulder, every hug, every year you stood by me
I would not be standing here without my Work Family

Verse 3
She's still here, she's still kind, still the first one at the door
Still giving every piece of herself the way she always has before
But now she knows the difference between those who take and those who give
She knows the ones still standing are the reason that she lives
Nicole, you are the proof that love can carry people through
And every one of them would say the same thing back to you

Pre-Chorus
They didn't give up when it was hardest, didn't flinch when it was raw
They loved her through the evidence of every single scar
And if she ever doubts her worth on any given day
They are every single reason she gets up and finds a way

Chorus
My Work Family — you are the ones who never left my side
You held me through the darkness, you were shelter through the tide
Every shoulder, every hug, every year you stood by me
I would not be standing here without my Work Family

Bridge
You saw what others did to me and you stayed
You held me when I had nothing left and you stayed
Year after year, storm after storm, you stayed
And Nicole will spend the rest of her life grateful that you stayed

Outro
My Work Family — this song is yours
Nicole is standing, Nicole endures
Because of every one of you
My Work Family — this song is for you