I met her in a church on a Sunday evening not late on Saturday night She sang Ave Maria a little flat and out of time but that's what drew me to her so that's alright As she placed a nickle in the basket that I held before her I asked her to be my wife And there's one cardboard heart for every time you said ''I love you'' A painted star for every secret that we shared A dried lima bean and small plastic birds because you cared I hear their talk and I watch them swap their old black and whites Bitter and beaten they talk of life's cheatin' like old boxers comparing scars All I remember is a smile at the top of every working morning and a shoulder always willing and able and all those nights that we'd spend just sitting and talking around our kitchen table And there's one cardboard heart for every time you said ''I love you'' A painted star for every secret that we shared A dried lima bean and small plastic birds because you cared Five rooms made stronger by the breaking and the healing of the two hearts they protected within Now one heart left aching just piecing and painting these walls with the memories of all that is real And there's one cardboard heart for every time you said ''I love you'' A painted star for every secret that we shared A dried lima bean and small plastic birds because you cared And there's one cardboard heart for every time you said ''I love you'' A painted star for every secret that we shared A dried lima bean and small plastic birds Because you cared