My niece, Melissa, is finding her wings today... literally, flying across country and to a new life. Part of me wants to stop her ~ now recognizing all the dangers I ignored when I was her age. Part of me worries that we didn't prepare her for all that she will see. The rest of me wishes I could witness her next steps because I know they will be amazing.
So, for Melissa... and for her older sister, Heather:
Reprise
I watched her belly grow, filled with anticipation and worry
Not knowing what was to come, but a beautiful baby girl
As the days passed, she filled my young life
Watching her first steps, hearing her first words
Always thinking and wanting the best ~ more than she was born into ~ for her.
Years passed, life rolled and rumbled
My life, only miles and a phone call away from her,
climbed on and tumbled
and when I would see her, and now, her younger sister,
I would always wish the best ~ against probability ~
That she would overcome all the barriers life – and we – had placed before her.
She took all that she was given
and somehow made her way through the
teasing kids always do because of differences
She grew into a young woman ahead of her time
Fighting her own battles with the grace only God could have given
A young woman who cried sometimes on my shoulder and sometimes only alone
As she turns the legal age of an adult, I continue watching and hoping ~ against hope
She will succeed and all of that enormous potential
will pour from her as I have always seen it.
And I watch her sister, eyeing her belly, filled with anticipation and worry,
Not knowing what is to come, but a beautiful baby girl.
