The Gift Of Life Poem by Linda Yates

Did you ever give thanks for the gift of your life?
As a child, a teenager, a mother or wife?
Did the pride in the eyes of your mother or son
Make you glad you'd accomplished whatever you'd done?

Remember the summers you relaxed by the pool?
Did your family all come when you finished high school?
Have tears of defeat made you alter your way?
Was triumph so sweet when you carried the day?

Was the love of your husband or wife a sweet gift?
Did your friend just drop in when you needed a lift?
Could a baby's laugh make you forget all your woes
As you counted his fingers or tickled her toes?

Did you notice your tears when they hoisted Old Glory?
Or, when tales of oppression came alive in history?
Did your courage desert you when grief made you numb,
When someone you loved in death's grip must succumb?

Does your heart sing at sunrise with hope for each day,
And the beauty of dusk give you peace when you pray?
It's these gifts we all share in the family of man,
But they're only a part of an infinite plan.