Hope and perseverance in the face of great adversity.

My niece is very special young woman. She’s had more hardship and strife in the first twenty years of her life than many people have had their entire lives but she never gives up and always has a smile on her face. She’s a top athlete, a dancer, a volunteer and an excellent student and I am so proud of her! If it is true that God has a plan for all of us then I pray that I am around to his plan revealed in her because I know it will be extraordinary. I wrote this poem for her on the occasion of her 16th birthday.

Untitled 16
For Sarah

Suffering is the price you pay for living
Joy is your reward for strength
Patience is the name of the road to Nirvana
I’ve seen it in your eyes
Nirvana
Reflected in the looking glass of you
All knowledge was yours at birth
But unlike the rest of us
You kept it safe
Hidden away in your heart
Holding you steady
Centering you
A citizen of the universe
From it but not of it

© 9/21/02 – Ms. GD


Photograph found here