Pass It On

A father holds a tiny hand, beneath the morning sky, A mother hums a lullaby and wipes a teardrop dry. They teach us how to stand up tall, then let us learn to fall, And somehow in their tired eyes, we see the love in all. They give us roots, they give us wings, They show us what devotion brings. And when their steps begin to slow, We carry what they used to know. We are the light they leave behind, A living song through space and time. We rise, we fall, we carry on, And give the love that made us strong. The road is short, the soul is long, We find our place, then pass it on. A child becomes a guiding voice, a shelter from the rain, The hands once held now hold the ones who taught them through the pain. The stories told at kitchen tables echo down the years, Through birthday cakes and broken hearts, through laughter and through tears. The seasons turn, the rivers bend, Beginnings softly meet their end. But every lesson, every scar, Becomes a map to who we are. We are the light they leave behind, A living song through space and time. We rise, we fall, we carry on, And give the love that made us strong. The road is short, the soul is long, We find our place, then pass it on. Maybe purpose is not a crown, Or something waiting to be found. Maybe it lives in what we give, In helping someone else forgive. In every seed, in every dawn, In every heart that carries on. One day we watch our children run beyond the open gate, We pray they choose a kinder road and learn that love is great. We see ourselves in how they dream, in how they dare to try, And finally understand the tears our parents tried to hide. We cannot keep the years from flight, Or hold the sun from fading light. But we can leave a flame so bright, It guides them gently through the night. We are the light they leave behind, A living song through space and time. We rise, we fall, we carry on, And give the love that made us strong. The road is short, the soul is long, We find our place, then pass it on. So build the home, forgive the past, Make every ordinary moment last. Speak the words you need to say, Before the twilight takes the day. For what we keep will soon be gone, But what we give keeps moving on. We are the light they leave behind, A living song through space and time. We rise, we fall, we carry on, And give the love that made us strong. The road is short, the soul is long, We find our place, then pass it on. Yes, life is brief, but love is drawn, Through every child who passes on. And maybe that is the purpose of life. Not to own the years, but to fill them. Not to live forever, but to leave something that does. A lesson. A kindness. A hand held in the dark. We are all someone’s child, and many of us become someone’s shelter. So while we are here, let us love deeply, listen gently, forgive freely, and pass on more light than we were given.