This is an overview of some of the thoughts that crowd my mind while I wait for our daughter to turn 18 and hopefully seek us out.

When I learned of your existence, I was so many miles away
An unfamiliar ocean held and captured my tears
The light that is your spirit held and captured my own
and over my heart it held sway
The tears were of confusion, joy and fears
Yet destiny's course had been plotted and my only thoughts were of you
Your mother and I conferred and we easily concluded
That you were our life now, and it was your life we entered into
We were so young, forgive us for being deluded
We were so very, very young and the web of innocence still cocooned us
The realities of this world can be harsh,
the choices we make sometimes are not our own
We learned that the world turns a blind eye to injustice
and, yes, it soon does
I had made a commitment and I felt it my charge to protect you,
you who was the seed that we had sown
We were beguiled by the coercion of man's indifference
We were so wholly unprepared
To wrap you in a worthy existence
We need you to know that we were so very scared
You are in our hearts and thoughts daily, and this love is very real
We need you to know that our hearts are with you
and that we wanted you for our own
Yet circumstances and our own youthful naiveté' stamped this seal
On our hearts, this loss we share
from not shaping our own world for this seed that we had sown
We need you to believe that this travesty is not your fault
We hold and cherish each and every moment
that you were in our embrace
In the most beautiful and sacred vault
It is all held for you, waiting,
the love that we hold for you in this inviolable place
We wait so longingly for the day that we can be reunited to be as one
We remember and we love and we wait
For three to accept and enfold under God's purest day in the sun

Written for Jasmine as I wait-J.T. Niswonger-August 26th, 1998

(c) 1998 J.T. Niswonger All Rights Reserved