the potential of wonder

 assertion, with verve

I am completely overwhelmed with joy

as we share time in the high mountain West with family,

we experience two of our grandchildren closely enough

to hold their truths a bit,

our oldest grandchild is 16,

going on toward the adult 

with a maturity, 

a sureness of self, 

a goodness of self

that renews my faith,

my belief in the potential wonder

possible coming out of the work of parenting,

of teaching, of any working with kids

who embrace and realize the enormous potential

that every self has when it learns to be itself,

a self that can laugh at doubt,

that can deny despair,

that can see a challenge

and rise to meet that challenge

with a casual enthusiasm,

that knows that what will be revealed

is just a start as to what is possible,

her journey crescendoes before us,

I work to ready myself to help the middle school kids

who will be before me soon again,

to help them move forward with grit, 

with determination,

until the paths before them

let them be who they are

with the verve inherent to their soul,

just as our granddaughter now asserts herself within the world.

by Henry H. Walker

August 6, ‘21