You have bathed me, dressed me, soothed me, cradled me
You have wiped me, fed me, sung to me and played with me
You have lost sleep for me
You have given up for me
You have missed out for me

We have read together, played together, sung together
We have swam together, ran together and cooked together
We have shared a story that is still being written
It has not always been a happy one
We have not always agreed with each other

I have been guided with boundaries by you
But I have thought that I knew better
So at times I have ignored you
And this has upset you
It is when I have worried you

You have tried to understand me
And you have cared for me regardlessly
You have waited for me to realise
That you were right
And then you have forgiven me

I have been brought up by you
And I have learnt so much from you
That all the rules were necessary
A gift from you to ground me
And help me to reach maturity

As we have shared our life story
We have made countless memories
And grown to live in harmony
With distance making no harm
In absence our thoughts still meet

You have given me life
And then shared yours with me
Because you have always loved me
And I you
For that is a family