Not Selfish at All

Her heart was breaking for a woman
that she didn't even know, a woman trying
hard, so hard, to do the right thing every day
to help a child who made it easy, so, so easy
to regard as being trouble. And she wanted to
encourage her, but what she said might well
sound strange to outside ears. She didn't
give advice on how to raise the child in higher
ways or throw some psychobabble band-aids
out she'd heard from Dr. Phil, suggest
professionals more learned than them both
might have a better answer, or accuse her of
a little slacking off in one department or the
other. She didn't tell her own sad story, try to
one-up someone who was clearly struggling
just to keep her head atop the flooding waters
of responsibility. Instead, she leaned in close
to whisper as she touched her softly on the hand,
"Take care of you," she said. "I mean it. It's
important." (And of course, it's also true.)


(c) Ellen Gillette, 2014