I heard the ancient voice say, you are no stranger to me, for I knew you when you took your first breath. I knew you as a child, when you wobble walked across the floor, and finally ran for the sheer joy of knowing how to run. I saw you through your early fears and kept you close in your sorrows. I grew with you, from year to year, by your side in triumph and loss, learning what you learned, loving as you loved. You are no stranger and never shall be, until we draw the stars to sleep, and rest together in the eternal rest of knowing.
Image above (and on front-page mastheads): Red Earth by Sarah Rehfeldt.
Words above by Steven Charleston.