On tears

The pages are wrinkled
In that spot

In that spot where
The tears that have fallen
So many times

Were they the tears during the hardest nine months?
Were they the tears for the one we lost?
Were they the tears from the lonely nights?
Tears from the times I'd blown it again?
Were they the tears from the years we ached for children?
Were they  the tears of sadness for my sister, her husband, and daughter
Who lost him to a battle of cancer

Are they for the child who wishes he knew
Where his mother was when he woke up

I opened the book
My eyes saw it again
The wrinkled spot on the page

In that wrinkled spot
It is...written

He hears my cry
He counts my tears
And captures them in a bottle
Mourning may last for the night
But a shout of joy comes in the morning

And so I wait for the morning

With my tears
And the pages
Written by my God

Who will rescue us from here.
One day.
And wipe away those tears
One
Last
Time
* * *
Linking with Jen and with Emily.

Thirteen

For the day my first born turned thirteen 2 1/2 weeks ago

Thirteen years.

Thirteen is an unlucky number, or so they say,

But not for me

Because thirteen years ago today

My dream came true

I became a mom

Thirteen years from now

I will be a mom whose children are all grown

How dare they come and

Change my heart, my home, my life

And fly away so soon

Yet that is their calling

And my calling too

To help them become

Who they are called to be

And in the process

It changes me

Changing diapers, making meals

Teaching fractions and phonics

To say please and thank you, too

Reading books and saying prayers

Tickles and laughter and outbursts of tempers

Theirs and mine

And I am changed

Holding their hands, holding their hearts

As they change

To become who they are called

To be

And in the process

It changes me

Thirteen

* * * * * * * * * * * *

How about you?

Has a recent milestone made you reflect upon your life?

And/or what advice do you have for us

for these upcoming teenage years?

* * * * * * * * ** * * *

p.s. Linking up with Company Girls at Home Sanctuary. Check it out HERE.

Ode to Paper & Pens

By Kathleen T. Jaeger, copyright 2010

A fresh pad of paper
And bright blue ink
As blue as the sky
And the station wagon
We were in.

Armed with these,
No one could lock me out
Of the code I longed to know.
For here I was
The Master of the Message.

Sunshine,
Blue sky,
And the joy of
Fresh paper and ink.

P is for Pull-up on a Banana Tree

A Pull-Up on a Banana Tree
a poem by Kathleen T. Jaeger

What a strange sight I see
Way up high and out of reach
A pull-up on a banana tree
What could it mean,
This pull-up on the banana tree?
It means, it means a Jack lives with me.
(And that IS a very good thing indeed.)

A poem created and dedicated to the strange sightings of a mother of four children. Or it could be dedicated to the things your mother never told you about motherhood. I've been a mother long enough now to know to take pictures of such things as these. But, if a picture is worth a 1,000 words, what are these words telling me? A sense of humor is essential to sane parenting.

I'm taking a long weekend break from blogging and will resume my part in this A to Z Blog Challenge early next week (hopefully Monday, but I make no promises).

Love, Kathleen