Your Children Poem by Deanna Samuels

"Your children are your children for the rest of your life".

That's what my Mum told me
and that's what her Mum told her.

Whatever their age, your child is your child,
you do your best to put them on the right path.
You educate, they grow up,
find their own strengths,
choosing the route in which they wish to go.
Having found that way, they step into adulthood,
a job, a profession,
perhaps reaching the heights of success.
They may stay single, have a partner,
or in a marriage.

Your children have now grown,
they are mature adults,
no longer need you for nurture or advice.
You stay close and keep in their hearts
or they gradually desire to become distant
and there is no longer that inclusivity.
Acceptance, you go your own way,
make your own life once more.

As the years go by
and your children grow older,
oneself too ages, retires, becomes a senior,
still sharing or not sharing in family occasions
and as even more time passes
your children also retire, they too become seniors,
yes, it is hard to believe.

Over all those many years,
one has seen the family joys, the griefs,
look back on all that has gone before
and at whatever senior age one has reached
you will always recall -
Your children are your children for the rest of your life.


Written at Courtice, Ontario - 20th July 2025