if tomorrow never comes...

This is an excerpt from a blog I wrote in April of 2007 and had originally posted on MySpace. I was looking through some old writings and came across it. It brought back such bittersweet memories that I had to share...


...I picked up my mom and went to visit the grands. The almost-three-year-old decided she wanted to come home with me – first time in weeks. Papaw would be pleasantly surprised. All the way home she chatted. When my mom asked her what songs she knew, she replied “Tinkle Tinkle Star.” I asked her to sing it for mom. She said “Not yet. Tomorrow.” That’s her latest thing with us. Mom asked if she knew Jesus Loves Me. She said yes, but when we asked for a solo she replied “Not yet. Tomorrow.” The conversation went pretty much like that all the way home. Of course, it’s cute when they say stuff like that. But then you think about how they learn it. How did my daughter learn to say “Not yet. Maybe tomorrow.”?


Suddenly it hit me… the way I felt when she promised. I wondered if she really would tomorrow. Did she really mean “Wait and see, maybe I will, maybe I won’t…” the way we sometimes mean it when we say it to our kids? Do our kids take it as “Forget it. Ask again some other time…”?


It was almost bedtime. We were playing in the living room when Gracie suddenly climbed up on my lap, sat on her knees facing me and sang “Tinkle tinkle wittle star…” I guess just in case tomorrow never comes.