sometimes lost is the best place to be

Our Sunday drive took us to a place I've never been before.

a place I'll probably never be again.

a place I hope to remember forever -

a forgotten graveyard

the resting place of pioneers.

Mothers, fathers, and their babies.

Days old, weeks old, months old, years old.

especially touching was little

11 year old Sarah Rose

"I am going now to rest.

I will soon be with the blest.

So be kind to my Mother

while I am gone." 

gone to be with her big brother, 14 year old Thomas,

who had left them one year earlier.

The leaves were instantly brighter,

the air crisper, my children's giggles more intoxicating.

_____________

This morning as I watched her
fumbling thru the house on her new rollerblades
my heart swelled with gratitude for the gift she is to me,
to us.

Happy Birthday to our own little rose.