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The other day I saw a friend I hadn’t seen since school.
We sat and reminisced of things and how we were such fools
like when the boys would tease us and make us feel so small.
At least we stuck together and could deal with it all.
After school we parted ways and never once did meet.
Both married and had families – our lives were complete.
Now she held her grandson close and bounced him on her knee.
He’s my daughter’s first; our son has two; altogether three!
“And what of you”, she asked – “I heard you had just
one, it seems
a daughter, wasn’t it?”, she asked (she heard from Mary Lee).
I knew I had to answer and so mustered up a smile.
“Janine, I guess I haven’t seen you in a long, long while.
I once had a daughter who I loved tenderly.
I once had a daughter who meant the world to me.
The angels came and took her and left her Dad and me.
We once had a daughter we named Stephanie.
She was such a smart little girl and had a gorgeous
smile.
Her constant game “let’s pretend” never was a trial.
Same for “my little ponies” and “charmkins”, always on her mind.
“Read me a story, Mommy – Daddy give me a horsy ride!”
We decided to move to a new neighborhood when she was
just nine.
The house was nice, the school was good, the neighbors seemed just fine.
We didn’t know that one, our friend, was such an enemy.
He lured her to his house after school with games and candy.
He hurt her in such cruel and exploitive ways
and told her that he’d kill her if she told about those days.
For all her life she held it close and turned the hurt within
and never could become the woman that she could have been.
I once had a daughter who I loved tenderly.
I once had a daughter who meant the world to me.
The angels came and took her and left her Dad and me.
We once had a daughter we named Stephanie.
We moved once more when she was twelve but it happened
once again
this time when she spent the night at a new girlfriend’s.
But she never once let on and made it through her teens,
poised and pretty outwardly, but inside, voices screamed.
She went away to college and soon became depressed.
Found some relief in drink and drugs but never could find rest.
She traveled far away, but from herself could never run
until God saw the pain inside and handed her the gun.
And so, Janine, there’s so much that I wish we could
have done
If only she had told us or had reached out to someone.
And when she did, it was too late; the demons were too strong.
Her death was such a sad mistake, and so I sing this song:
We once had a daughter who we loved tenderly.
We once had a daughter who meant the world to me.
The angels came and took her and left her Dad and me.
And now we have an angel named Stephanie. |
