As they sometimes will,
Simply look back at who you’ve been.
You’ve been a young scientist,
Discovering what lay under rocks,
Underground and under leaves,
Cradling soft and slimy worms in your hands
Or watching centipedes, beetles and bees,
Butterflies, dragonflies and moths,
Blowing dandelion clocks or blowballs
To see how far the seeds would go,
Making your own slime and stretching it
To see how long and transparent it could get.
You’ve been a nature-lover,
Planting sweet peas and watering them,
Helping rake in the fall, shovel in winter,
Mow in summer and uproot dandelions
Like you were rushing towards the future
Eager to use grown-up tools.
You’ve been a great helper, always there
To sweep the floor, to wipe windows,
To peel and crush garlic as garnish
To chop veggies for your burger,
To grate cheese for your pizza,
To clean my car with your water gun!
You’ve been an ingenious maker and artist,
Creating with recyclables, clay, Lego and K-Nex,
And making scenes and dialogues with them,
Building tools, robots and paper airplanes,
Painting on canvas, using my camera and what-nots,
Always something in your mind that’d come to life.
You’ve been an independent and self-reliant kid
Using a huge umbrella to build your backyard tent,
Sitting at a picnic table for your afternoon read,
And building a pyramid with marshmallows and sticks.
You’ve been a caring, compassionate and loving child
Giving your tired parents a daily massage,
Sharing with your big sister everything you’ve got
And offering the rest to your loving aunt.
The road may be long, narrow and rough,
But looking back, you know what you’ve been
And that there’s nothing you can’t handle
With a smile, dignity and pride.
And when things get really tough
I pray that you remember how much you’re loved
By everyone around you, ready with helping hands.
Enjoy and be grateful for every breath, every day,
Every moment of your blessed life.
For Ethan/MLJ/30/07/2021
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