Dear son or daughter,

You can be whoever you want to be,
you can do whatever you want to do.
There are no limits,
I will not limit you to the confines of my beliefs
I will not tell you you are wrong
I will raise you with the best of my abilities
and I will give you everything you need
I will do whatever I can to ensure your safety and happiness
And yes, I will ground you if you misbehave,
but I will never guilt you,
manipulate you
or justify being mean to you for some greater good.
I will always love you with my whole heart,
and the truth is,
I'm writing this letter at 16 when I can't even imagine wanting you.
Dear son or daughter.
You will be the most important thing in my life
I will take every step,
I vow to never shelter you from the hard stuff
and justify it with the fact that I know best.
I will always love you.
Forever.

My love, I have come to this point
That I don't care for what they say
But to be with you and be yours
Until forever and a day

My forever light, I am yours
My heart, my soul, my mind
I dreamed to grow old with you
It is our love, our strongest bind

I completely give myself to you
I swear, my love, this pledge is true.

I will love you
With all my heart
With all my soul
With all I am

I am yours...

Until I die
Until my last breath
Today, forever and always
Until eternity.

Wearing the gown you have chosen for me
I walked through the aisle with this pink bouquet
A smile painted in me with sparks of  love
Now I'm going to forget yesterday

You welcomed me with your arms open wide
You held my hand and let me wear the ring
We gave our vow then the kiss, as a seal
We heard our heartbeats like the songs we sing

The people's joy and the greetings they gave
As endless as the love that you recite
We entered our room to complete our bind
To wait for another dream for a night.

Although it seems to be,
when it comes down to me,
I am not working seamlessly,
I am broken, I am defunct, indubitably!

Although the jitters ring true,
as I lay here next to you,
This isn't a cold, no fever, no flu
I am not helpless, I know what I must do

I must feel these pangs of doubt inside
I must not quiver, run away or hide
Instead, I'll give this wild wave a ride
Feel it fully, head up, with arms stretched out wide

It won't disperse right here and right now
But at least, deep down, I know I know how
To keep this darkness from furrowing my brow
I'll smile to myself, stand tall, breathe in and vow:

I am not broken, I am simply alive
I am not broken, with every tool to thrive
I am not broken, my journey has just begun
I am not broken because I can't see the sun

Darkness is only darkness because of the light
Waiting and watching right over the other side
I shall keep walking, as straight and as true
Repeating to myself, "I love you, I love you!"

I am not broken, the stars are shining above
I am not broken, just cultivating self-love
I am not broken, but I am starting to be
No, not broken, a stronger version of me!


- BPW