Relationships change as we grow up and become more independent. For parents, this can be a hard development to accept. The following poem focuses on the independence of a daughter from the point of view of her mother.
To a Daughter Leaving Home By Linda Pastan
When I taught you at eight to ride a bicycle, loping along beside you as you wobbled away on two round wheels, my own mouth rounding in surprise when you pulled ahead down the curved path of the park, I kept waiting for the thud of your crash as I sprinted to catch up, while you grew smaller, more breakable with distance, pumping, pumping for your life, screaming with laughter, the hair fl apping behind you like a handkerchief waving Goodbye.
