To My Most Cherished One..

The night you were born I cried tears of
joy for the first time in all my days
Holding your beautiful wee body in my arms
changed my life for the better in many ways

Bathing your tiny structure for the first time,
what a wonderful and scary feeling I had
Soon you grew beyond the itty-bitty tub and
the mini white gowns in which you were clad

As you became more mobile it was clear that
our baby-proofing chores would be quite a task
In no time you moved from crawling to walking
and then to our wonderment you began to ask

Your first words are still a point of contention
since up to then we'd only heard goo goo, ga ga
However it seems like only yesterday that
I heard your beautiful mouth utter "dah dah"

To everyone's amazement before long you were
speaking two languages and studying another
You were running, climbing, laughing and
beginning to look like your beautiful mother

After much thought and consideration we decided
to move you across the Pacific to this land
Skipping a grade from your first day you made
us so proud with all the challenges at hand

Over the next several years you continued to
grow and exceed all the family's expectations
Relocating again wasn't easy on any of us and
to some extent increased my own frustrations

Wrapped up in my own daily desperate struggles
with working and commuting day-in-and-day-out
Having to leave you with others or alone took a
toll on all of us but you most without a doubt

Before I knew it you grew into a young woman
and in turn needed me less as each day passed
Increasing the distance between us my anger took
a greater toll and before long the gap was vast

Though its only been a couple months that I've
lived without you it all has become so clear
Never truer words have been spoken than "hindsight
is twenty-twenty", I'm so sorry my little dear

I'd somehow to my amazement forgotten the joy
that your beautiful life brought into my own
All the good times we had now over-shadowed by
my rage and the damage I wish I could postpone

For now all I have of you is the pictures on my
office table and the bear you gave me on my bed
Every night I touch and hold it and listen to your
soft voice and the words of love you recorded

Please know that for now all I can do is wish and
hope for you the very best that life has to offer
And hope to God in Heaven every day that some
day you allow me to again call you my daughter

(multimedia version - http://www.freewebs.com/urbothbeautiful)