In the Blink of an Eye
A mirror was picked up and placed on a wall
Of a house that was towering forty feet tall.
It hung in a room with a bare wooden floor,
Where it watched a man carry his wife through the door.
“Welcome home, love!” said the man as he beamed.
His wife was in shock, “It’s the house of my dreams!”
She kissed him and hugged him and kissed him again,
Then jumped from his arms and they danced in the den.
They laughed through the night while the stars shined above,
As the mirror looked on and reflected their love.
Across the next month, they decked out their place.
Together they prettied up each little space.
By the mirror, they placed a white stool and a rug,
Then danced once again, twirling into a hug.
Between them was growing a precious new life,
But the man hadn’t noticed the bump on his wife,
So the woman then whispered inside of his ear.
As the man heard the news, he broke down in tears.
“I’ll soon be a daddy! We’re having a child!”
He yelled to his wife, as the two of them smiled.
The man picked her up and spun her around,
Then up on their bed he laid her back down.
Each morning she’d wake and then walk down the stairs,
To look in the mirror and try to compare.
“Has my bump grown? Am I bigger today?”
“You’re as pretty as ever!” her husband would say.
One morning they sprinted across the wood floor,
Then glanced at the mirror and ran out the door.
They returned to the house after two days went by,
And now into the mirror looked three pairs of eyes.
The husband was holding his sweet baby girl,
He grabbed his wife’s hand and they danced and they twirled.
In the blink of an eye, one month became two.
Each day that went by, their baby girl grew.
The mirror reflected her very first laugh,
The moment she slept with her new stuffed giraffe.
Her parents would wake from her cries in the night,
And hold her till morning would shine its new light.
It was hard to let go, as their minds filled with fear.
They’d leave her at daycare and wipe away tears.
But by dinner they’d carry her in through the door,
Not a scratch on her head, just as safe as before.
Yet they worried she’d hurt herself, trip, or fall down.
For she crawled, then she walked, then she ran all around.
Still they anxiously cheered with each step that she took,
Like her first day of school, with her bag full of books.
In the morning, they sat her up high on the stool,
And talked of the things she would learn while in school.
Then looked in the mirror, the mom fought and fussed
With her daughter’s brown curls till she left for the bus.
They waved and then sighed, “How quickly they grow,”
And felt proud as they watched their sweet baby girl go.
She’d always return at the end of the day,
And fall in the arms of her mom, who would say,
“I missed you so much, I’m so glad that you’re back,”
Then they’d talk and they’d laugh till the bright sky turned black.
The husband and father would join his two girls,
And smile knowing there was no place in the world
That he’d rather be than at home taking part
In these magical nights, for they filled up his heart.
As much as he wanted to slow down the time,
All three of their ages continued to climb.
The years just flew by, as they packed every day
With soccer games, girl scouts, and middle school plays.
The mom and dad each shared their own expertise
On homework, and life, and the birds and the bees.
The parents so loved to be there for the ride,
Each step of the way, they were by their girl’s side.
Till one day they weren’t, for she started to spend
More time after school hanging out with her friends.
And borrowed their car when she learned how to drive,
So they worried at home till their girl would arrive.
When she got back too late, they’d argue and fight,
Then hug her and tell her, “We’re glad you’re alright.”
Despite these small bumps, she made both of them proud.
In school and in soccer, she constantly wowed.
But more than all that, she was thoughtful and kind,
Helping strangers and friends who got into a bind.
She marched to the beat of her very own drum,
As her parents just marveled at whom she’d become.
In no time, the daughter, her dad, and her mom,
All stood by the mirror before senior prom.
The three of them smiled as they looked at the stool
And thought of that very first morning of school.
Oh my how they’d changed since that day long ago!
The daughter was tall and continued to grow.
The mother looked up at the mirror said,
“I sure have a lot of grey hairs on my head.”
“Well I’m almost bald!” laughed the dad to his girls,
Then grinned, for his daughter still had her brown curls.
The father then turned as he heard a bell ring,
And opened the door for his prom queen’s new king.
He walked in with flowers he’d bought for his date,
Then nervously told her, “Oh wow, you look great!”
She most definitely did in a classy blue dress,
Her mother’s pearl necklace draped over her chest.
She walked out the door with a rose in her hair,
The boy held her hand as her father just glared.
By midnight, he brought her back home safe and sound,
Where she traded her dress for a black cap and gown.
It simply amazed both the mom and the dad,
But their daughter was now a new, proud high school grad.
In the next couple months, she packed up her things,
And readied for college and all it would bring.
At last she walked past the old mirror and stool,
And left with her parents, who drove her to school.
They waved her goodbye, as their eyes filled with tears,
And wondered what happened to all of these years.
It was time to let go; she was out on her own.
Their sweet baby girl was somehow now grown.
Feeling sad and alone, both the wife and her spouse,
Walked back through the door of their big, empty house.
They looked in the mirror, four tired eyes stared back.
The wife asked her man, as the night sky turned black,
“Now that we’re old, do you love me the same?”
“More now than ever!” her husband exclaimed.
She kissed him and hugged him and kissed him again,
Then jumped in his arms and they danced in the den.
They laughed through the night while the stars shined above,
As the mirror looked on and reflected their love.