I Will Cheer You On

How time flew.

It was not long ago

when you were just a babe,

born when the ground was white with snow.

Dad drove the car

into the snow bank,

after you had made your first cry.
Some memories etched in our minds like
the first time we ventured forth

to the beach where the waves are calm

and the wild horses roam free.

It was the first time it closed down

in decades, if ever,

due to unsafe needles on its shore.

You had a fever.

We left in a hurry.

On the way home we visited

the emergency room.

We nursed you back to health

from a terrible pneumonia.

Over the years I watched you grow

and change with time.

How you were ready for the first day of school

and could not wait to get out of school.

How you wanted to go with me to places

and wanted to go to places without me.

How you loved math, hated math, and loved math again,

and graduated with a major in math.

I cherish who you are

and yearn for what is gone.

I rejoice in your independence

and yearn to hold you tight.

I celebrate your accomplishment

and yearn to urge you on.

I have loved you from the beginning

and my love is here till the end of time.

May the road you’ll take

bring you joy and peace.

May your heart be light,

bearing few burdens.

May you learn from failures

as you find successes.

May you never waver

from believing in yourself.

You hold the future,

and steadfastly I will cheer you on.



Dedicated to Thal
May 2013

Collage 1

At six pounds seven ounces you greeted me,

granting me a new title of bà ngoại.

How would I had known the joy you brought me,

or the warmth that generated from within

my heart, as I touched your soft skin to

my lips or gazed at your angelic face.

I might not have believed it if

someone had said my heart would skip

a beat and jump wildly,

just for a little bundle of a boy.

A collage of pictures of you I keep.

A desktop background of my electronic toy.