The day I came
You were there;
Snuggled to you, 
Your heartbeat became
My safe place. 

Years went by
In the blink of an eye, 
Following you everywhere, 
Learning and absorbing it all. 

Look at me! 
See what I can do!
Owie! That hurt!
And you were there – 

To pick me up;
Snuggled to you
Your heartbeat
My safe place. 

Another blink
And here comes the struggle
Of growth and rebellion,
Yet still needed you. 

The hurts became 
More internal and
I lashed out 
And hurt you, too –

But still you came
To pick me up,
Snuggled to you
Your heartbeat –
My safe place. 

We came to the day
When you gave me away;
We laughed as we walked 
Sharing only as we could;

You choked up
Telling him and all the world
To cherish me,
Your little girl. 

We kept learning 
And growing, 
New life, new stages,
New struggles and

Ever more changes-
Always helped me 
To learn how to do
And to allow for mistakes;

And when it got too tough
You picked me up,
Snuggled to you
Your heartbeat –
Always my safe place. 

Then life threw curves –
Big, ugly business –
And all our lives
Became disrupted. 

But we held it in,
Held it together –
Getting through, 
Revealing strengths,

Revealing weakness. 
When it got to be
A flood of emotions
And too much to hold

You still picked me up
Snuggled to your chest
Your heartbeat
Once again my safe place. 

And as we went through 
Those bad months… 
Years… 
In all your pain

You still 
Picked me up,
Snuggled to you
Your heartbeat, 
Still my safe place. 

Your heartbeat formed
The steady rhythm,
The drum beat of my life. 
And I remember

The last day
I saw you – 
You laughed at my
Latest stories

Adventures and antics,
Accomplishments – –
And you said – – –
“I am so glad

You know
How to do 
All these things.”
That day I knew

Without a doubt
How proud of me you were. 
And you knew that you had
Given me the tools I needed

To carry on – 
When the day
Would come –
Too soon…

When no more could you
Pick me up, 
Snuggle me to you
To hear your heartbeat, 
To be my safe place. 

That last time
My head on on your chest
You patted my head
And I think we knew –

That my latest stories, 
Those recent fixes, 
The newest dances, 
I would no longer share.

How can it be
That my life-giver
My safe space
Would never be again!!!

But then I look 
To the little ones,
And I know
That I must hand on

All you taught me. 
They must learn 
All you would have 
Shared in a lifetime. 

And most of all,
I hope I do it right, 
Whether they fall or fly, 
When they need me

I pick them up,
Snuggled them to me, 
And pray my heartbeat
Can be their safe place.