Dear Hannah,
When you were three years old, you called me from your bed. You said, “Mommy, will you lay with me and sing me a song? Because maybe a dream will come if you sing me a song…because last night when you ‘sing-ed,’ a dream came.”
I guess someone else can sing to you now, because I did…and your dream has come. I love you.
You caught frogs and turtles and each one had a name.
Pretend friends were enough for your imagining game.
You’d dizzy yourself with June bugs on a string.
Lightning bugs were your lantern when crickets would sing.
You saved shells and pebbles and clover-all sorts.
Old sheets and sticks were your tee-pees and forts.
Poking in morning glories grown “all by yourself.”
You were giving directions to your personal elf.
Gnomes lived in your sandbox. ‘Neath your bridge, there were trolls.
You sent them far away to rescue desperate souls.
But that was long ago and reflection years hence.
Reminds you that “far away” is just over the fence.
Your closet was a fairy room transported by dreams
In that tin foil wand there were magical schemes.
Appointments with fairies were important to keep
There you’d be… in that closet, wand-in-hand, fast asleep.
A world of sweet dreams; that fun place of pretend.
But dreams didn’t really come true…before Ben.
But Father Time chased Mother Goose one sad day.
Big shoes stepped in your closet and chased out the play,
Fairy rooms turned dressing rooms, and gnomes danced along.
More wistful their memories and fainter their song.
Little blond curls were pulled back into locks
Heels became higher and skirts replaced frocks.
For time is unrelenting and days swiftly passed
We, reluctantly watched you, and you did it so fast.
That transition from pigtails to “up-dos” flew by
And your questions changed from “What’s that?” to “Why?”
And somewhere in that passage you became my best friend.
I treasured each moment, for I knew you’d find… Ben.
A thousand times we’d prayed for him, A thousand for his dad
A thousand for his mother and the kind of home they had.
We prayed that you would find the one who’d keep your hand in His
We prayed for someone just like him and for a night like this.
But I wasn’t ready…really, on that crowded sidewalk when
This man beside you stuck his hand out saying, “Hey, I’m Ben.”
So here you are, you Hannah-girl. Just look at you tonight.
You eyes are sparkling in the shades of dancing candlelight.
You’ve brought the gift you promised would belong to Ben alone,
You kept it safe for Him and so he, too, has brought His own.
Life doesn’t get much sweeter than to marry your best friend.
Tonight your God has smiled on us. He’s given us…your Ben.
