You Were There

You were there, at the beginning, when
I was falling apart, when we met over the
remains, charred, of my life then lived.
You were there, to drag me to a
law school auditorium, yes a law school
auditorium, one Sunday for church.
You were there when I asked, and
you said yes.

You were there when we were
broke, in a new city, pregnant.
You were there to say yes to
our firstborn, a son, and our
second born, a son.
You were there to hold me when
I cried, two years after my father’s
death, because it took two years.

You were there to raise two
boys, to turn them into men, because
that’s all we had, two boys.
You were there to hold and stroke
and encourage a son’s wife through
the birth of our grandson, and you
stayed through all of it because
that’s how you’re made.

You were there to live the vow,
sickness and health, richer and
poorer, and you’ll be there until
there’s no vow left to
live, except it always will be,
at least for us, because the
vow was meant, intended, designed,
believed and lived to be eternal.

"Window," photograph by nAncy of Poems and Prayers. Used with permission.

If you’d like to read related posts on faithfulness, check out the One Word Blog Carnival over at Bridget Chumbley’s place.