Until you are old,
My dear children,
You will never know
How much I depend on you
For your strength
When I am weak,

Or for your wisdom
When I am foolish,
For your technology
When I am stuck
Back in the 19th century!

You will never know,
My dear children,
Until your lives
Begin the racecourse
Which runs downhill
At top speed.

There will come that time
When you can no longer do
The things you have always done
Without even thinking twice.

There will come those times
Of confusion, the times
When you open a cabinet door,
But you cannot remember
What you wanted to get,

Or the people you have always known
Will walk by you, and call you by name
And yet....yes, and yet,
You do not know who they are.

And so, My dear children,
Let me lean on your strong arms now,
Let me depend on you, your strength,
Your wisdom, your caring for me - - -
Just as you have always leaned on me.

Scarlett Treat
May 27,2008

Scarlett Treat

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/my-dear-children/