She came last night as I sat alone, “The Girl I Used to Be,”
And gazed at me with her earnest eyes and questioned reproachfully.
“Have you forgotten the many hopes and plans I had for you,
“The great career, the splendid fame and the wonderful things to do?
“Where is the mansion of stately heights and grounds surpassing fair,
“The silken robe I dreamed for you and the jewels for your hair?”
As she spoke, I was very sad, for I wanted her pleased with me,
This slender girl from the shadowy past…The Girl I Used to Be.
Then gently arising, I took her hand and guided her up the stairs,
Where peacefully sleeping, my babies lay—innocent, sweet and fair.
I told her they were my only gems, and precious they are to me.
My silken robe is Motherhood of costly simplicity.
My mansion of stately heights is love, and the only career I know
Is serving each day in its sheltering walls for the dear ones who come and go.
And as I spoke to my shadow guest, she smiled through her tears at me.
I saw that the woman who I am now…pleased The Girl I Used to Be.
—Author Unknown
(Posting this because I think we all know what it is to have our lives turn out differently than we planned…to turn into different people…but accept and love who we are now as well as where we came from.)
