growing pains

Dedicated to Travis

I remember, it was in the grocery store I asked to see my mom's glasses and put them on, for the first time; for the fun of it.

"Mom, MOM! I can see everything!"

"Well Son, looks like we need to get you glasses!"

And I remember, it was over a summer, that I would wake up in the night with excruciating leg pain. My mom took me to the Dr;

"Well, son, looks like you've got growing pains. It hurts; but it stops eventually"

And I remember the first time jumping off of the big rock at the Puntledge River. My dad was beside me, advising me of the opportunities;

"Well Son, ya gotta look out for the little windows along the rapids so you can see the bottom of where you're diving to"

And it's been a few decades since these events took place and, as with any troubles, with time and perspective I've been able to see with fleeting clarity;

I've been able to acknowledge the danger signs;

But the Dr. was dead wrong about the growing pains.

- Marion Jane Lefevre, 2018