My youngest
child has left home to attend university. Before she went I was going over questions
in my head: “Have I taught her enough? Is she emotionally self-reliant? Will
she be safe? Will she remember not to put her whites in with her colours etc etc. I got the message from spirit to let her go with love, trust
and the knowledge that she will do the best she can, just as I did the best I
could with the understanding, skills, fears and expectations I had at each
stage in raising her. I thought then of one of the ‘verses’ in Taehotsa’s Songs
for Women. Taehotsa was my Native American spirit teacher for many years and gifted me these
very powerful words for each stage of a woman’s life. You can read the rest here but below is the one most appropriate for me now, as my daughter moves on
to the next stage in her life and I move on to mine.
Song for
the Grown Child
I
stand aside and let my children pass.
Slowly
I have parted the tent flap wider and wider so they may find their feet upon
the grassy plain; grow used to the vastness of the sky; learn to talk alone to
the stars; and read the clouds upon the wind.
I
can recall each full moon rise since their coming.
For
I have taught them according to each season, welcoming its arrival and
honouring its passing.
And
in the teaching have I been blessed to grow and better know myself.
And
in the learning have I been honoured to watch their spirit find its form.
I
see their strength, know their challenges, understand their souls.
But
I am just a guide, revealing footprints in the soil.
Time
taps me on the shoulder and whispers in my ear, “The path parts, this now is
theirs to track.”
And
so I step aside and let my children pass into the mountains,
into the wood, across the desert, drawn onwards by a far-off star.
They
smile at me as they go, they turn and wave at every crossing.
They
are certain. I am certain.
That
should they reach down to drink from still water
They
will see me smiling back, forever by their side.
