Look again…
Posted on October 31, 2016 by bob in April 2010
Look Again…
She looks in the mirror. Looking back are watery eyes rimmed with wrinkles. She turns away. Look again!
Watery eyes rimmed with wrinkles? Or a sea of tears salvaged in the sands of time. Tears of love, tears of joy, tears of anger, tears of sadness and hope and fear and worry and compassion and relief; tears of a lifetime given only to you. Watery eyes rimmed with wrinkles? No. A sea of tears salvaged in the sands of time to remind you – you are who you’ve always been.
In the mirror she sees shoulders slightly bent, hands spotted, knuckles stiff with arthritis. She turns away. Look again!
Shoulders slightly bent? Or a reminder of all that you have carried through the years. See in those slightly bent shoulders the burdens you lifted from those who could bear them no longer and remember each one. Can you see their faces, flush with freedom because you were there to carry the load awhile? Can you see, on those slightly bent shoulders, the lives you touched and changed?
Hands spotted, knuckles stiff with arthritis? Every scar, every spot, is a reminder of every responsibility ever placed in those hands. Every child at birth and every promise you made that you would not let them down. Every responsibility put in your hands in your job, in your family, in your home.
Knuckles stiff with arthritis? They’re reminders of the pain that comes with holding on too long … or letting go.
In the mirror she sees a stomach, stretched and scarred, a sagging body empty of its poise and purpose. She turns away. Look again!
A stomach, stretched and scarred? That’s the imprint of a life you nurtured, protected, readied and then, at the perfect moment, coaxed into the world.
It’s not a sagging body empty of its poise and purpose, but a tapestry unfolding a life with no limits.
In the mirror she sees a woman, as alive inside as she has always been. On the outside? Not a body betrayed, but a life, illustrated.
William McDonald/Author/Old Friends (Endless Love). Available at: www.oldfriendsendlesslove.com She looks in the mirror.
