Nina Atwood, Photographer

My Children's Poems

Here is my favorite poem written by Stephen Atwood and given to me on the day of HIS graduation from High School titled "This Day Is Not My Own":

On this day the focus is on me,
My accomplishments,
My deeds,
And look how far I have come,
This is not as it should be.

The real hero is not the one on that stage,
Not the one in that sea of blue,
It is not the one who looks out and waves,
But the one to whom he sees.

The true hero is someone who rescued,
The one who loved,
The one who was patient,
The one who taught,
The one who listened,
The one who stood always to show me the way.

And on this day,
The one that the world says is my day,
I do not celebrate my self,
I cannot pat myself on the back,
I will not look into the mirror and say,
“Good Job.”

As I wait for my name,
As I stand up,
As I walk the steps,
As I cross the stage,
As I shake hands,
As I look out and smile,
As I step off the stage,
Out of High School,
And out in life.

As I sit,
I will ask,
How did this happen?
And I know.

If you had not found me,
I would not be sitting here,
If you had not cared for me,
I would not be here to stand up,
If you had not taught me,
I would not be climbing these steps,
If you had not helped me,
I would not be crossing this stage,
If you had not believed in me,
I would not be shaking this hand,
And if you had not loved me,
I could not walk off this stage,
I could not go on in life.

Please remember this,
And keep it in your heart,
And know that I love you,
And that when I look out,
My smile is for you,
The one to whom this day truly belongs.

I celebrate you.

Here is one by his sister, Frances, given to me as my Christmas present:

No words can express
How much that you have blessed
Blessed my life
And Blessed my heart
You never gave up or let us part

Even though I do not show
I do love you
And, yes, I'll try to make us a family
And I can't deny
That it may be hard
But we'll get through this with the Lord
Putting God first
And He'll lead the way!

posted by Nina @ 9:03 PM