before I had children I understood that I would be the bow and they would be the arrows heading into the future. I gave a lot of thought to that and decided that I wanted to meet each of my children as the unique individual she is and watch her unfold and grow. With as few expectations as is humanly possible I started along the road of being a mother. I watched my babies turn into toddlers turn into children turn into adolescents and, with some already, turn into young women. We've been on a long journey together - along roads that were steep, were hard on the feet, where we had to walk carefully along the side while massive lorries thundered past - and, always, I've tried to find the right mix of holding their hands and shielding them from danger and following them as they lead the way. Sometimes my heart has been in my mouth as I watched them, sometimes I've confidently let them go while I had a rest, sometimes they've held each other's hands whilst walking along a grassy path....
The journey is stretching ahead of us far into the future and we can't see round all the corners. I know that there are more of those busy, dangerous roads ahead but I hope that we can find more and more grassy paths to amble along and enjoy what life brings to us. Just as the archer watches her arrow until it reaches its mark, I will watch the way my children take along the path of the infinite and hope that my aim was true....



On Children
Kahlil Gibran

Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them,
but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

You are the bows from which your children
as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,
and He bends you with His might
that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies,
so He loves also the bow that is stable.