Raindrops

Raindrops
on the day you were born
greeted you into the world.
Gray skies cried their lovely tears
because an angel had come to earth
to dwell among the mortals.

You were the most beautiful infant.
Even the doctor said that you
looked like the Gerber baby.
Days turned into weeks
followed by months and years.
You talked, walked, made sentences
in a blur of time.
Such a joy! We hardly noticed
the first warning signs.

You were just tired, we reasoned.
We’d have to get you in bed sooner.
Little did we know that we
would become too familiar
with doctors and hospitals
and unending tests and needles.

Milestones were marked not in
ballgames and homeruns
but in positive test results.
Time became a bandit
that stole away precious moments.

Moments of wishful thinking
filled with “what if’s” and “if only’s”.
Moments when illness and
suffering filled your eyes and mine
with tears.

Raindrops
on the day that you left us
greeted you into Heaven.
Gray skies cried their lovely tears
because a mortal had returned from earth
to dwell forever among angels.