A child can only take so much hurt,

Before they realize the pain.

Being kicked around and treated like dirt,

Those memories forever remain.

Though no matter what you do,

A child’s heart stays the same size.

And whether or not you want to,

You will someday have to recognize,

There were things you may have done…

Things you may have said…

Things that they have had to overcome,

Things they have had to put out of their head.

I remember as if it were just yesterday,

When I received the call.

My mother had just passed away,

And it had no effect at all.

I was told she had left a letter,

Addressed for me to read.

As if I didn’t know any better,

I felt my heart begin to bleed.

I knew there were things I needed to hear,

And hoped she’d finally tell the truth.

Still deep inside lurked the fear,

It was something I shouldn’t do.

She had written her amends too late,

Still I went anyway…

Thirty years to the date,

And this is what she had to say:

To my dearest little girl,

To whom I once promised the world…

I send to you my apologies,

And beg that you forgive me please.

I need you to know, I never thought it through,

Never realized what my actions would do to you.

If I could only turn back the hands of time,

Click to erase, press to rewind…

I would make sure you never shed a tear,

Would’ve shielded you from all fear.

I know now that you may not care,

But I have always wished, I could’ve been there.

The milestones that you have crossed,

I wish I had not lost.

I should have given you the world,

I should have, my dearest little girl.

I have always loved you with a love like no other,

Love, your Mother.

The tears they fell on that paper,

No longer could I hate her.

From one child to another,

Before it’s too late, forgive your mother.

For when she’s gone, there are no words,

To change the past and erase the hurt.

There is no time quite like today,

To listen to what she needs to say.

--Amanda Wakefield