Bobbing Along

Know this:

That he wasn’t always frail.

Nor was he always broken,

unsteady,

unkempt,

unclean,

unclear.

Know this:

That there was another man before the man he became.

Before the man who was brutal and demeaning,

angry and resentful,

demanding,

and impossible to please.

Before the hateful words,

the rages,

the beatings,

the cold cruelties,

the painful, smothering silences.

Before we felt the fear,

the dread,

the hurt,

the unrelenting pain,

the damage.

Before we felt our anger,

our resentment,

our hatred

our hunger for understanding,

our desperation to be free.

Know this:

That once upon a time he read us bedtime stories.

And sang us songs.

And tucked us safely in our beds at night.

And that is the man I choose to remember