by Monica Eckert

Remember swinging from summer branches?
And searching for the best blackberry bush?
I remember picnics in the field
And arrowhead hunting in the woods.

Summer memories embraced me
When I was small and you were grown.
I waited for school to finish,
So you would come on home.

Remember when I was 12?
You lent me your baseball cap.
You must have liked it on me
Because you never took it back.

That hat kept me company
When your Badger Bus had gone.
Then I’d wait for Christmas—
For you to come on home.

I got to have your bedroom
Since you went to work in fall.
You didn’t mind I took down posters
And painted tigers on your walls.

That old room stands empty now,
And you have finally flown.
No longer do I wait;
I know you won’t be coming home.

But I believe you’re happy
And that I’ll see you again one day.
This will be my comfort
When you feel so far away.

Today I look to Heaven,
And I sense I’m not alone.
You’re watching over me
Until the day I come on Home.