July 10

Laura

I think it was the year
you swept up jacarandas
from the path
and sculpted them

a purple dolphin

I think it was the year
you planted herbs
and greedily
we ate them all at once
cut them down so deep
they couldn’t grow

The year
you raced your scooter
down the drive
our faithful dog
ears flapping
close behind

I think it was the year
you sang in every room
and filled the house
with questions
but did not wait
for answers

I think that was the best year
of them all.

“My patience, resolutions and beliefs are tested to the limits – sometimes daily.”^*

Right at this moment one of my challenges is the constant, tuneless whistling from my elder son. When my boys were babies it was getting them to sleep or trying to figure out why they were crying. On any given day now, it might be squabbling, fighting, teasing, screaming, shouting or rudeness. Who’d be a parent? We might well question ourselves after the event, but we can’t very well put them back! Just how we find those inner resources, how we constantly demand more of ourselves, how we keep marching up that hill with a smile on our face and gladness in our heart at the sight of our ‘babies’ is one of life’s mysteries.

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