Aspects of Being

Gabrielle Perreault

I wrote a letter to my beloved niece the other day which left me deep in thought. She just turned 12, you see. Now, I can safely assume that many of us experience a 'microcosmic examination of the years' with the young people in our lives; how they change and grow, what they must contend with, how we hope and pray and try to provide loving guidance, so that they might find their place in the world. It does not have to be a wistful affair, and yet, being 12 nowadays seems so much older than when we were that age. Am I wrong? How much has the world turned? Is it that we remember all too well, or that we have forgotten - I am never quite sure..... 

All too often, we can fall into the trap of smugly assuming that young people have it easy, supposing that they remain blissfully care-free until a "certain age" when they must don the mantle of adulthood and responsibility. Not being a parent myself, one might readily think that I don't have a clue! But the Love for the children in my life is as deep and as certain as any other..... 

I remember the awakening of notions I hadn't thought about before, or even more, finally finding the words for the questions that I had! A Beginning. I recall the somewhat disconcerting sense that this would be a long journey. I remember the anguish of trying to fit in with the expectations of others around me, peers as well as adults. I remember looking around me in awe and fear, often as puzzled as I was comforted by what I saw in others and how they behaved and reacted, as I learned more about the world and the family I lived in. And I remember the transition, coming out of seeming Innocence into the vast realms of Knowledge - struggling with what I needed to know, versus what others insisted I needed to know. 

Don't we still inhabit that place? Or have we forgotten.... Some say that there is a time and a place to be a child. I say that we are always children! Though the journey is indeed long, the awe, the questioning, the weight of tribulations AND the joy of being alive can be constant touchstones that take us forward. Look at any child, and remember yourself....... 

For Brittany Rose ~ 
 

Dearest Child! 
We are your bane and blessing 
- Holding you tightly in our hearts 
- waiting for the world to take you away 

A fond and cherished memory 
of all the things you were 
You are our hope 
- and will be - 
a signal for our love to grow, 
yet never knowing what you will know.... 

Light and laughter, you dearest being! 
You are a child, and we the ones who see 
what happens when the child lets go, 
forgetting all good knowledge that you now own.......