For My Son

When you were little, sometimes you would fall and scrape your knee, you would cry and come running. I would comfort you with a "Spiderman" band-aid and a hug. Now that you are older, there are different kinds of pain. The heart ache when your feelings are hurt, the insecurity of being a teenager, the pain when you are failing at a difficult task. I want to rush to your side and comfort you. I want to brush the hair out of your eyes, and hold you close to me. I can't. I must hold myself back, watch you suffer from afar, hold back the tears. If you are to grow into the man that you are meant to be, I must stand back and let you feel the pain. I have to tell you to press on, and tell you that "what doesn't kill us, makes us stronger." I will tell you that you will succeed, because "what one man can do, another can do!" I hope I have the strength to do these things, because I love you more than anything in the world.