I look at you and I wonder.
Where are you going and how will you get there?
Will you follow the trail that others have led or will you create your own path?
What will you find when you reach your destination?
What will you learn and experience along the way?
I wonder.
Will there be another person by your side? Will that person be a temporary traveling companion or a more loyal friend?
Will they share your interests, laugh at your jokes and encourage you to keep moving forward?
Will they be something more for you? Will you sit across from each other when you go out to eat? Will they run their fingers lightly over your hand as you speak?
I wonder.
How will you look when you’re older? Will your eyes still sparkle with their mischievous charm? Will your smile still be ever-so-slightly crooked and will your cheeks still dimple when it shows?
Will you fuss over bobby-pins and metal clips and jewelry? Will you beg to wear a tank top in 60-degree weather?
Will you grow your hair out or pierce your ears? Will you insist on painting your nails despite the detractors who continue to spout their antiquated views at you?
I wonder.
Do you dream at night?
Are they pleasant visions of smiles, laughter and sunshine or do the specters that lurk in the darkness haunt you while you sleep?
Do you travel through the fantastical worlds of your books and television shows, adapting to new sets of circumstances every time you close your eyes? Do you relive your experiences from the schoolyard, playing soccer with your friends and trading barbs during juvenile competitions?
Do you picture yourself years from now, with a spouse and children, working to split your time and give attention to everyone closest to you? Do you see yourself planning out your future plans or making decisions on the spot?
Do you end up speaking to crowds from a microphone on a stage? Do you sit in an office, working alongside your clients to make sense of the world around you?
I wonder.
How will you see me as you age?
Will I be a sounding board? A confidant? A trusted advisor?
Will my input have value to you? Will I just be an addled, out of touch, old man?
Will you care for me when I can no longer care for myself? Will you resent me for becoming a burden as my body begins to betray me?
Will you still love me?
I wonder.
