Tuesday's Child Is Full Of Grace

The Child


The Young Woman



My youngest turned twenty today. No longer a teenager, a woman of the world now with world-sized worries and joys. This child was born old. Never typical of the "baby" of the family, she has always been responsible, mature beyond her years and focused. In high school, she mother-henned her friends and was often affectionately called "Mother Emily". As a squad lieutenant on her drill team, she led by example and kindness, always seeing potential in every team member. With an especially tender heart, she is sensitive to disadvantaged/handicapped children and adults, and never met a dog she didn't love. As a youngster, her sisters teased her and pronounced her "mommy-fied" but they were also very protective and doting on her as well. There was the usual sibling rivalry between them all, but a special bonding too.

Because she is the youngest, Emily has been very close to me. She benefitted from the "empty nest" and has had a different relationship with me than perhaps her sisters were afforded due to circumstance. She has trekked with me to cemeteries and far-flung Texas ghost towns searching for long lost relatives, sharing a curiosity about the past. My love of old things and a hobby of browsing junk yards must be a genetic marker she surely inherited. Especially, I love her way with older people; she patiently and earnestly listens to their long stories, and genuinely cares about them. It is part of what makes her soul "old".

More than anything else, I love to watch Emily dance. She creates magic with her interpretations, and her fluid and graceful movements are breathtaking to me. I wished I had realized her potential much sooner, as she might have progressed to even greater accomplishments, perhaps a career in dance. She is still passionate about performing, but now has different life goals and dreams. This song by Lee Ann Womack came out a few years ago and it has always reminded me of my little dancing daughter:

I hope you never lose your sense of wonder,
You get your fill to eat but always keep that hunger,
May you never take one single breath for granted,
GOD forbid love ever leave you empty handed,
I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean,
Whenever one door closes I hope one more opens,
Promise me that you'll give faith a fighting chance,
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance.

I hope you dance....I hope you dance.

I hope you never fear those mountains in the distance,
Never settle for the path of least resistance,
Livin' might mean takin' chances but they're worth takin',
Lovin' might be a mistake but it's worth makin',
Don't let some hell bent heart leave you bitter,
When you come close to sellin' out reconsider,
Give the heavens above more than just a passing glance,
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance.

I hope you dance....I hope you dance.
I hope you dance....I hope you dance.
(Time is a wheel in constant motion always rolling us along,
Tell me who wants to look back on their years and wonder where those years have gone.)


I love you, Emily, and are blessed every day with your precious grace. Happy Birthday!