I’ve run all the races

Beat my own times

I’ve tied a million different laces

I’ve climbed the corporate ladder and even dropped a few dimes

Yeah, I’ve huddled with radiologists and surgeons

I’ve floated down to the ER, up to the OR, done all the nursing in between

For the past 20-some years, I’ve been studying and learnin’

I’ve made good friends and hope I’ve been a good one made

I’ve seen so many of them move away

I’m still here, like a loblolly by the water in the garden

In my late 30s, starting to feel like my soul is starvin’

Conversation at home becomes monotoned

Maybe it’s spring on the horizon

Maybe it’s the baby blue sky that’s got me realizin’

That there is plenty

That’s God’s always loved us all generously

Though spring is on the brink

I’m starting to think I’m dying as are all my friends

My high school records have been broken

No one remembers my name

The medals hanging up are collecting dust

Leisure and retirement are hell

Who’s to blame?

I’ll never have it all figured out

What a delusion that I could ever be in control of anything

Like the change of seasons, especially spring

But I still have the husband of my youth

We’re magnetized for life – I still think he’s so cute

And my pup that I raised since seven weeks is now six – he’s in all the pics

Our little rectangle of land is paid for

I sit in the evenings out front to watch the birds take a tour

Hawks and crows, robins and jays

It’s like the birds know

Maybe that’s why Jesus said to watch them

They have all they need

I reflect on all this – on seed

The garden in my front yard

The outdoor work is done

I hear a whisper – “Just wait, you haven’t even seen fun”

It’s time to build the house

So this is my last hurrah

Racing along the river

As nature awakens

Before my whole life is taken

I’ll lay it down

Call me a quitter

Strangely enough in death life is found

Like spring after winter

Time to stock our quiver

My husband grabs my hand – “ta-da”

Time to build

But first a last hurrah

God knows we don’t know of the expectant thrill