Tenets of Time

I wish I could see my mother dance and stretch her arms toward the sun. For now the days are many when she struggles to stand.

I wish I could climb aboard the big black and white bus with my daddy and bounce on the seat while he drove the lumbering beast around the mountain roads.

I wish I could fight with my brother over which of our 5 TV channels to watch on our families’ tiny black and white TV.

I wish I could laugh again at one of Uncle Cecil’s jokes. The jokes have faded from my memory, but the laughter remains.

I wish I could taste my Mamaw’s homemade vegetable soup again, while my Papaw and I sat in her kitchen next to the wood cook stove.

I wish I could see the ocean for the first time and feel again the glorious assault on my senses.

I wish I could kiss my boyfriend in the snow standing on the step above him on the front porch of my teenage years.

I wish I could be a college freshman with a blank schedule waiting to be filled.

I wish I could be a young giddy fiancé picking out her bridal veil.

I wish I could feel baby butterfly wings fluttering in my bulging tummy assuring my expectant mother’s heart the life inside of me was growing and healthy.

I wish I could be a young mother cuddling a sleepy baby on my shoulder.

I wish for just one more day, I could feel the touch of my sister’s hand and hear her call me Sissy. Forever I will miss her touch and the sound of her voice.

I wish for my Daddy, for the love that was taken away by time.

There are no second chances…

Carpe Diem!