I remember…
My mother used to say…
“At night I would stroke
your forehead
And send you to sleep..”
And I notice
Amid all the sound and fury
And protest
As the last tears are
Squeezed from eyes
(Including my own)
When everything has been tried
And I sit alone
In chaos
My own child
Closing sleepy long lashes
With each stroke
This is a gift
This caress of my mother
And her mother
It will be mine long after I have gone
Each stroke
A brush with memory
“I know now that everything changes, and it’s usually too quickly.”*
Having children reminds us of the changing nature of ourselves and our world. Before children entered my life, years could go by and I would usually have external events to mark them. Now, years are remembered for my children’s birth or ages, and our experiences together. (And the time before the birth of my first child feels like a thousand years ago!). Their growth seems rapid and shockingly sudden – and my time with them is all the more precious for knowing that.
* © from 'Being Mummy' by Anne‑marie Taplin, published April 2007