(I haven’t met a mother who doesn’t hope for health for her kids. But, you know what? Sometimes it doesn’t always work out exactly like you hoped and you still have a really, really wonderfully beautiful life. Once our kids are with us, there are no conditions on our love. “As long as she’s healthy” is just as silly as “as long as she’s rich.” I will love any child of mine as long as she’s mine. Forever and ever. Even if she decides to try a rhyming poem. Even if she might have rapped it aloud in front of a mirror Eminem-style. Even then.)
As Long As She’s Mine
As long as she’s healthy, you profess.
And if she’s not? my eyebrows and heart rise up to contest.
Will we love her less?
Will our lives be a mess?
Will she be less happy?
Should we despair right now, this instant, today?
How can you be so sure
that as long as she’s healthy
all of life’s troubles
will stay away?
Will health at birth
guarantee happiness
in her teenage years?
Will it stop
all of the fears
and tears?
Will it protect her
from the car that swerves
making her own take flight?
Will it save her
from worry
and heartache
and long, lonely nights?
Will it stop the deranged man
from coming her way?
Will it keep
anything and everything
that’s scary and bad
at bay?
Life is a crapshoot
where we play the hand dealt.
I’ll take what I get,
healthy or not,
and I might get upset,
but not now, not today,
not when I’ve decided
to rise up and meet
the soul
that’s headed our way.
As long as she comes,
however she is,
she will be mine.
This post originally appeared on AnnieFlavin.com.
Annie Flavin is an attorney, a writer and a mother to her three young children. She lives with her family outside of Chicago. Currently, she is writing a collection of pieces on motherhood and relationships. You can find her on Facebook and Twitter (@AnnieFlavin).
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