Caitlin Poem by Susan Christiansen

Today is the day I think I dread
My baby turns sixteen.
She’s gone from precious amazing gift,
To a beautiful, self-assured teen.

Gone are the chubby cheeks I kissed,
Cutesy clothes and long brown hair.
Dolls replaced by make-up,
Fashions of the week,
With Black the color du jour.

Music and cellphones are usually attached.
Computer comes in third.
Friends and boys and sometimes
Me…..if the checkbook is there too.

The boys in the band, music loudly played,
Horror films with lots of gore,
What chores? She thinks I’m completely nuts!
The Princess doesn’t do “those things, ”
Homework, what a total bore!

Honesty, I remember it.
Though gone for now, I fear.
Manipulation is the favorite tool
To plan the week with peers.

I’m glad that once, occasionally she’ll pause
And really need a hug.
The love born with that tiny child,
Has grown with the young woman,
So I shrug.

I know that I have to let her go.
HER decisions move to the fore.
She must learn choices, consequences
And to think.
Before she finally walks out that door.

I look forward to knowing the woman,
She’ll become.
Though inside, the memories
Linger on.
A sandbox, Softball,
A broken leg, driving bikes and vans.

A baby,
A child,
A ‘tween,
A teen,
Finally fully-grown.
Each age’s challenges we met
How all those years have flown.

Sometimes I wish I could bottle it.
Holding on to all the sands of time.
To SLOWLY drizzle out each one.
Every memory I’d find.

But no, I’m sure I’d let her go.
She’s too beautiful to hold,
A precious gift that’s not to keep,
A love that’s never old.
Memories will continue on, adding new one’s too.
Like the bud becomes a flower
Caitlin will continue to bloom.