I Don’t Know if You’ll Remember…

I don’t know if you’ll remember these days.

But I’ll remember.

I’ll remember that I was the teacher.

The breakfast maker.

The picnic planner.

The one who got to play with you.

I sat in the audience and watched your imagination take flight.

I was the healer of the ouchies.

The storyteller.

The artist.

And the dancer.

I was the one who let you disappear into your favorite movies — over and over again — so I could get a little work done.

And always, always…I was the mama.

You thought I was the greatest.

But I’ll remember how much I worried.

Would you stay safe? I wondered.

Were we doing the right things? Making the best choices?

I don’t know if you’ll remember the masks.

Or all the phone calls and video chats.

I don’t know if you’ll remember missing your friends or skipping trips to the zoo.

But I hope you’ll remember the adventure.

How we discovered dinosaurs and climbed mountains and laughed from the belly.

All in our own backyard.

I hope you’ll remember learning about the world. I’m sure you’ll look back and see that — in some ways — it fell apart. But I hope you’ll remember that the world also joined together.

I hope you’ll remember the love. And the singing.

I hope you’ll remember how we danced in the kitchen.

I hope you’ll remember you were happy.

And you were my everything — safely tucked in at home.

The truth is, I don’t know if you’ll remember.

But I will.

And the next time the world goes quiet…the next time life slows down…I promise you this…

There will be dancing.