Dear Mary Poem by Josephine Collett

Did you dream, as a girl, of your wedding day,
The bridal party dressed in finery,
The villagers joined in celebration?

Somehow it turned out differently.

Did you imagine the birth of a baby,
The womenfolk gathered around to help,
And caring for him in a beautiful room?

Things turned out so differently

Did you hope, as you watched your little son play,
That he would be just like all the other boys,
That he would fit in and be one of them?

Yet he was always so different.

Did you plan and dream, as mothers do,
Of a fine young man with a job and a wife
and sons of his own?

It all turned out so differently.

Dear Mary,
Who knew how to give
And how to grieve,
But most of all how to love,
I think we understand each other well.