I wiped away your locks when they were burnt sienna,
I wiped away your locks when they were bleached sand,
I wipe away your locks now that they are as rum punch;
I blessed your bow mouth and your too-big eyes with my finger,
cradling you as I cooed 'Baby, Baby, Baby' during Super Bowls,
and when Brudder suited up in helmet and pads,
we made sandbox towns,and peopled them with our own stories;
We cut gardening magazines to make decoupage place mats,
and cardboard boxes to make a playhouse; we taped your own cooking show,and did multiplication tables for hours on end;
I wiped away your tears when time was too real for little feet and little hands,
I wiped away your fears when expectations were too big for little hearts,
But now the tears are mine in a world no longer on celluloid or VHS,
In a world that exists everywhere and yet nowhere,
Soon we will drive you far away to a place you think you want,
A place to which you swear you'll never return but we know you will;
I'll wipe away your tears when time again becomes too real and
when fears again become too big,
as I wipe away my own tears,
as I press on, press on, press on, one step at a time,
knowing it will never be the same,
just as we always did,
just as you always
will.
Prompt:
- write about "love lost" or "love found"
- do NOT use the following words: love, hope, kiss, or forever
- answer the question of where
- even if the piece is fiction, reveal something true about yourself
- tag with wwe
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Comments: 53
Stick this in the bottom of her TP package, where she'll find it within the first couple of weeks of college. I remember, distinctly, HOME SICK!!!! Would do her good to know Mommy's still there, when that hits.
I will put it in my daughter's bag....
Or are you discussing kids, if so then forget what I mentioned above.
- Speak to us of children!
And he said:
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come trough you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of to-narrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them,
but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,
and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the Archer's hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies,
so He loves also the bow that is stable." - Kahlil Gibran.
I'll be singing that song in my head today. :-)
What lovely sentiments. So many details that create an emotional picture. My daughter who left is as independent as I am so we had no tears or quavering voices. But there will come a time when we are wistful....
Next week we leave...for Savannah... I think it will be difficult...
I worried about this day from the time they were babies. Worried about kindergarten and then going off to college.......
I remember this, when Dave went away to college (and he only went as far as UCONN, we're in CT!), but still, it hurt. He still left home. Yes, you'll always be there for both of yours, because that's the kind of Mom you are. This is a good thing, and yes, you'll be sad when it's time to go. It does seem terribly empty, for us-- but it's a whole new world for them.
Hugs,
Marilyn