Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Sweetness At Thirteen

Tonight was sweet...
and the reason was my little girl.
Maybe I should clarify and say she is MY little girl,
but, at 13 years of age,
she is not a little girl to anyone else.
(Well...except to her daddy and papa.)

She is an enigma at times.
All those hormones surging,
and not quite sure what to do with them
she can release them on me.
With eye rolls, indignant voice, or just the closed door...
which in itself speaks volumes,
I am not often on her "favorite" list
for more than a few minutes at a time.

But, tonight....yes tonight!
She asked ME if I wanted to go run
on the boardwalk...
with her.
Gasp!
Seriously, she will laugh with me,
but that is usually in the privacy of our home.
To actually invite me to accompany her...
in public...
to a place where her friends could see her
running along side her middle age mom
is a rare honor.
And I say that without a touch of sarcasm.

So...
we ran.
Although my feet hurt from the long day,
and my emotions were raw from some hurtful events,
we ran.
We walked when I needed a break.
We laughed.
We made fun of each others music as I took her for ice cream.
We laughed.

We arrived home and found her dad and brothers
draped upon the living room furniture watching the news.
So she and I took the floor.
She came to me fresh from the shower
and asked me to french-braid her wet hair.
She wanted rolling waves for school tomorrow.
I braided...remembering how many times I've done this task.
And then,
she curled up, her head upon my lap,
and I forgot to breathe.
I touched her hair, her back, and stroked her arm lightly.
I blinked...
and she jumped up to go reply to a text.
But I had that moment.
Actually,
I had moments tonight.
They were rare and therein, lies their beauty.
There was a day I took the hugs, laughter and hands-on care
for granted.
But that day is long gone.

Yes,
tonight was sweet.
And the reason was my little girl.





 





10 comments:

  1. Such a sweet poem!! Happy birthday to your little girl.

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  2. wow ~ this brought tears to my eyes. You captured both the significance of these moments and how fleeting they can be. I'm finding now (my little girl is 24!) that there are more of these times that there were for some years. French braids sure do bring back some memories!

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  3. this is a beautiful post honoring your daughter. My baby will be 31 this month. I enjoyed my visit to your blog. hugs

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  4. Moments to cherish. How very sweet and quite touching. This is a wonderful reminder for those of us with little ones not to take those hugs and braids for granted. :)

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  5. Gorgeous words, gorgeous love, gorgeous *you!*

    You are such an amazing reminder of how fleeting my time is with my little ones and how to grasp at the loveliness as they get older.

    I'm sorry to hear about your raw heart, and hope that it was mended a bit by the love and laughter.

    XO

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  6. What a heartwarming, loving poem. I had tears in my eyes by the end of it. Beautiful in every way.

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  7. I just had this talk with my sister – about how when her baby (now 1yr old) when she becomes a teenager she’ll need a mom – no a friend – obviously you already know “I am not often on her "favorite" list for more than a few minutes at a time.” Oh – but those moments when the not so baby bird returns to the nest looking for “MOM” – ir makes them all the more tender. Thank you for this today – I hearted it lots – smiling!!! God Bless and keep you and all of yours Kristi.

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  8. So sweet and precious. I love your poetry. May you and yours be blessed!

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