Pathfinders

And so my friends as I glance cautiously over my shoulder I realize that I should have marked all of the traps I fell into as well as those I averted. But then I wonder if my elders had pointed them out to me would I have listened. There is one admonition I would gently nudge you with: "do not ignore the yearnings of your heart" for I know it is better to be lost than frozen in an unknown longing. Pay attention to children they are much smarter than we adults realize and have many lessons to teach if you are willing to learn. Listen also to the wizened wisdom of the old for they are the silent sentinels of the joy and pain of life, the purveyors of an aged truth, not an old truth, but a truth aged, simmered, savored and experienced. We will be entrusting this truth to you as it was entrusted to us, begrudgingly, and sometimes fearfully for we are aware of the mistakes we have made and fear the mistakes that you may make. I will pass the banner of my life to my children, grandchildren and great grandchildren having been blessed to meet them, to teach them, to know them and watch them grow(well the great granddaughter not so much yet). I have learned to respect them as men and women and to trust them with the great responsibilities of age, love and growing wisdom. I will continue to walk my path and as i glance cautiously over my shoulder, breathe easier as I see that they have chosen their own. 12/3/2020 Your Advice to the Youth Poetry Contest Edward Ibeh - sponsor