Front Page
Sheila Burke's Column
It was a beautiful late afternoon
Apprehension thickened the air
My stomach turned a bit
My more-than-middle-aged heart raced
Butterflies filled my stomach.
Intestines in a knot.
It was now or it was never
I looked over at my child
she nervously glanced back at me
This could be very good
or very bad
We prepared to take a leap of faith.
I’m scared, she mumbles
with a slight shake in her breath
You’ll be okay, I try to reassure her.
Or maybe reassure myself.
As I know the world around us at this minute.
And here we go. Into the thick of it.
Mother and Daughter.
Against the world.
A death grip tightens
Eyes fixated. Frightened.
Minds praying silently.
Intensely.
The fear grips my lungs. My heart is beating a mile a minute
but my breath is shallow and slow.
A mad rush surrounds us
it is the end of the day.
Everyone is fleeing frantically.
No one smiles
And in the blink of an eye
it was over
She conquered her fear
as did I.
Hearts and stomachs settled
I let go of my death grip.
We smiled.
All was well.
*I think I’ll title this: “Mom…Can you teach me to drive on the highway today?” (in rush hour)
footnote: We put the flimsy plastic ’student driver’ decal on the back window before leaving….MC felt more comfortable having it on there for her first drive on the highway…so people would lay off her bumper. But as we made our way onto the on ramp? It blew off. Poof and it was gone.
