Hello, Sun

WHY I WAKE EARLY
Hello, sun in my face.
Hello, you who make the morning
and spread it over the fields
and into the faces of the tulips
and the nodding morning glories,
and into the windows of, even, the
miserable and the crotchety -

best preacher that ever was,
dear star, that just happens
to be where you are in the universe
to keep us from ever-darkness,
to ease us with warm touching,
to hold us in the great hands of light -
good morning, good morning, good morning.

Watch, now, how I start the day
in happiness, in kindness.
- Mary Oliver

I'm leaving for New Haven on Friday. Flying east across the continent. Excited to sit in the sun and celebrate my daughter's joyful achievement; watching, with the other parents, the first beat of a garden of wet new wings, brilliant as butterflies from the chrysalis. I will hold my breath to hear the music of her future unfolding before her as she walks the lawn to shake the hands of the scholars and educators who have made such a tremendous impact on her life. I will be sitting beside my son, and for the three of us, this moment will mirror a future we never could have imagined the day we lost Ken. He would be so proud. He is part of all that has made this moment possible. And although the physical world is our boundary - it both giveth and taketh away - on this day spirits will soar. For we are the promise of the morning.