My Aunt Mil’s remembrance services were yesterday.  She was such a gentle spirit.  And back in 1970, she penned a great poem that I want to share with my readers.  She was proud of it … and it certainly holds the test of time.  Even towards the end when a stroke had gotten the best of her … she could recite this poem word for word.  Ah, the power of the written and spoken word.  Enjoy. 

 
“The Girl”

“Where is the girl I used to be?  Who is the stranger that is now me?

She seems to have slipped so far away. It’s a tricky game life does play.

Did she have to take the lightness, hopes and schemes … the once upon a time and happily ever after dreams?

She was so sure that life would be more beautiful along the way. What willy-nilly, silly dreams, but that was yesterday.

There is the raw reality of living to face. For all the doing will she find sufficient strength and grace.

She found there’s so much loneliness with the best of love and living.  For a lady, so much waiting, so much giving.

Tomorrow will she look beyond the middle years of today?  Hoping to find the girl with the lofty dreams and say –

Where is the girl who used to be?  Who is the stranger that is now me?

Has she really slipped so far away?  Aren’t her dreams as great today?

Isn’t she lurking beneath the surface always … to spur me on with love and confidence all days?

Where is the girl I used to be?  She’s always with me – she’s ME!”

 Written by Mildred Hardy

                                    1970