A mother witnessed her daughter growing up
From her first word
To her first step
The first time she got on her bike
And her first scraped knee shortly after that
Her first day of school
She wore a pretty flowered dress
Got her backpack ready
Walked up to the classroom
Hand in hand with her mother
By the time she was nine
She hates dressed and skirts
She wore only jeans
And over-sized t-shirts
Her mother let her be
Once she turned thirteen
She moved on to jewelry
Too much eye liner
But she didn’t look bad
So her mom didn’t mind
As she learned about bra’s
Her shirts got lower
Her jeans got tighter
And she said cursed too much
Her mom didn’t say anything
Once she started high school
Everything changed
She drank spirit for the first time
With that her innocence was taken away
Her mother knew nothing
She wasn’t satisfied
So she started on pot
Smoked too many cigarettes
And didn’t give a damn
She lost her mothers trust
She tried to slow down
But that never worked
She popped pills to forget
What had happened the night before
Her mom stopped trying so hard
One, two, three weeks late
She was scared
But it finally came
She swore to change her ways
It never worked out that way
With men too old
They never cared she was too young
Just used her, and used her
Until they’ve had enough
Her mother was concerned
She thought she was worthless
Thought no one cared
She had given up on life
She decided to end her life
Her mother found her there
Blood stained on the floor
Her only daughter passed out
On the bathroom floor
She blamed herself
She could have done more
Her daughter finally opened her eyes
To find herself in a hospital bed
Thick bandaging on both sides
Blood still seeping through
Her mother was by her side
When the girl started to cry
Her mother had woken up
Took her daughter in her arms gently
Told her she was sorry
That she had given up
The daughter couldn’t speak
Trying to catch her breathe between tears
Her mother rocked her gently
Said she’ll always be here
Her mother stayed there
Her scars had healed
But she still felt pain
Her mother told her she’d get her help
It wouldn’t immediately go away
Her mother never lied
Now the girl is grown
Has a beautiful baby girl of her own
Her husband stands by her side
It seemed as though everything was alright
She still called her mother every night
She got the call one Summer afternoon
Her mom crying softly
The cancer had spread
She only had two months left
Her mother was very sick
By her mothers bed side she stayed
Like her mother had so many years before
She held her mothers hand
She couldn’t hold back her tears anymore
Her mother looked so small
Then in the night
Mother next to daughter
She felt her mothers hand fall out of hers
Her daughter got up
Looked into her eyes
Her daughter had lost
Her hero that night
She had started to cry
Then she saw the note on the desk
She teared up more when she read;
“I’ll always be here”