Ciarin

Good day world!

I was just thinking how I make many references to Ciarin yet I have not introduced her!! Ciarin Anne Marie is my one and only beautiful, 18 year old daughter. I always wanted to be a writer, but when I had her, I felt like I needed to be wholly and fully available for her. I focused on careers and jobs and schedules, and while I won't say I sacrificed my written voice, (I read a quote by Chris Rock that put the word sacrifice in perspective. He said something like he never says he sacrificed anything for his children because the word itself implies he could have been doing something better) I will say that I mistakenly believed that I could put it off and wait until I raised her. I say mistakenly because I realize that as strong and strong willed and determined as I am, I could have made it work. BUT she is now an adult and on her own (in the JobCorp program in what they call a College track program where she learns her vocation and also does drivers Ed and SAT prep and then applies to schools all with their help)

But the point here is to introduce my lovely one to the world. Here in Cracey's world, she is well known and respected, but she has been nearly ejected from time to time because as all offspring, there were times she simply did not understand that she was in MY world and that the rules or whatever those crazy people at school were telling her did not always mesh.. BUT thankfully, she was able to maintain her residency in great standing and this is a poem I wrote that should explain how I feel anyway, the beautiful creature I have let loose into your world:


To see your face upon waking everyday
From the beginning always filled me with wonder
Daily and momentarily, I was enthralled! enraptured! captivated!
How could something so perfect come into my path?
All the baby things you did were better than the other kids
(Even if I exaggerate a little)
You talked early; way before those books said you would!
And bypassed toddling; who you stumble?
jumping from crawling right to walking
Every grade in school, every piece of artwork
Was proof of your genius and talent
Every new idea, every thought shared, was tantamount
to a Presidential speech!
No one could compare; and how ever could I share?
This beautiful creature I caused to exist!?
I yearned for the moments you'd curl in my lap
and the hours spent doing your hair
Every dinner I cooked, every floor I mopped
was payment for the gift with me GOD had shared
Never did I mind the dollars and cents
Nor the worrying at emergency room visits
Never would I trade the few teenage rebellions
nor the years in Atlanta just US
I got to know the child you were even as I guided that development
I encouraged you to have a voice and an opinion
And eagerly watched your personality emergence
And now suddenly; has it been 18 years!!??
You are an adult and are fully bloomed
And even as I look back on those years of your childhood
And want to snatch back a moment, a day, a mood
I also look forward and truly cannot wait to know you as a woman as well!!

LOVE YA CEES!!!

~Stacey Thompson