Journey With You

Journey With You

For thầy T.H.C. and all my friends, especially those battling life-threatening illnesses

July 2013

You say life is like a train trip

It is hard to say goodbye

At each station of your life

When someone has to get off

If that someone is a friend

You watch people come and go

You meet people as you dine

You sit across a stranger

Who becomes a friend

Holding a place in your heart

You want to hold on so dearly

Everything love has to give

You want to touch so closely

The people who are so near

The people who share your journey

It is strength that you are after

It is love that you’re yearning for

It’s a miracle that you dare hope for

To keep everything the same

To make everything better

I give you everything I could do

I wish you everything I care for

I’ll miss you if you ever leave

And my love does not stop then

And my love will never cease

My train trip will not be the same

If you are no longer on it

I will treasure every moment

When we laugh and cry together

For who knows what tomorrow will bring us

I pray that we are granted

With much time on earth to share

Time to give and time to heal

Time to live and time to spend

Time to feel the wonder of love life offers

For you are the person I met

In the good fortune of my life

Who became a dear friend of mine  

Who gives me so much I feel blessed

You will forever be in my heart

Collages 3&4

This morning when I said goodbye,

In your sleep your fingers grasped mine.

Already I missed your smiles,

Holding you tight and comforting your cries.

The twinkle in your eyes was a shining light,

The peal of your laughter rang loud with delight.

Softly I bent down to touch your face,

And whispered lovely things to be caught in dreams.

May sweet slumbers rain on you each night,

And there be joy to fill you heart always.

Sleep tight, my dear, and grow strong each day.

I wait ‘till once more you’re under my warm embrace.

Saturday 7/6/2013

Collage 2

Gazing at you I forget,

The problems my life possessed.

Because nothing is to stay,

You’re not the same as yesterday.

Each day you appear afresh,

Each page filled with wonder to attest.

Faithfully I change the collage,

That holds your images from afar.

I wish I could pick up a portrait,

And turn it into the babe I embrace.

The next best thing stays on my screen,

‘Till the next time we meet again, face-to-face.

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.

Six Wondrous Days

On Day One when your parents went out –

            We discovered Photo Booth and had fun taking pictures, just the two of us.

            In your first aqua class you kicked your little legs like a little dragon would.

You turned three (months) on Day Two –

You posed and cooed at Picture People to our hearts’ delight.

We celebrated with candles and cakes at lovely Zilker Park before the night.

On Day Three Mommy went to town with Grandpa Ông –

            I fed you Mommy’s milk from a bottle and we went on a walk.

            You cried at the stroller so Daddy carried you in the sack.

On Day Four I watched you while Mommy played music at Koenig Lane –

            We went to the nursery where I rocked you to sleep before Mommy came.

            We watched the peacocks spread their feathers later at Mayfield the Camp.

On Day Five Grandpa Ông took you down a slide –

            We went to the library where you were so content on Mommy’s thigh.

            You didn't play with the other babies or the toys on the floor. Neither did I.

On Day Sixth it was my last chance to carry you on our hike –

            At Town Lake I did a silly dance so you would not cry.

            This was after we played at the pool of Barton Springs under clear sky.

Then it was all too soon when we said goodbye –

            You sat in the dreaded car seat once again to take us to our flight.

            We will miss you, Sweet Nhỏ Con Rồng! You bring us smiles.

‘Round the Carousel

dedicated to Tâm Thành

April 2013

I dream of the day when the flowers bloom

Their pink petals dance in the breeze

The summer sun will shine its brilliant rays

On the path where together we will stroll

How beautiful, the blue lake’s water  

How colorful, the carousel we ride

The horses of all shapes and sizes

Go ‘round and ‘round as we hold tight

To the memories of the precious times

We spent with each other our lives entwined

The circle goes ‘round and ‘round with no end

As forever the love of our friendship stands

Ta mơ ngày hoa nở

Nụ hồng trong gió mát

Nắng rực rỡ trên bờ

Ta cùng nhau sánh vai

Hồ thơ bao cảnh đẹp

Bên con ngựa kéo quân

Đủ mầu đủ sắc phong

Ngựa gỗ vẫn chạy vòng

Những kỷ niệm thân yêu

Quay vòng theo ngựa gỗ

Một vòng tròn bất diệt

Như tình bạn không quên

Thương tặng Tâm Thành

Mãi mãi

Tháng tư 2013