Thought it was time to take the plunge and post my own work up here - I've spent enough time commenting on everyone else's. I'm reading this at my daughter's Bat Mitzvah next week - it's not really a poem. Please be kind.
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My prayer for you on this special morning
Is the prayer that formed in my heart on the day you were born,
And that I've repeated every day since then.

Our Gd & Gd of our fathers, let me be strong enough to protect her with my every breath,
And please watch over her and keep her safe when I can not.

Hilary, my prayer is that the amazing, unique and awe-inspiring glow that lights you from within
Will continue to shine brightly and warm the hearts of your friends and family;

That you will greet each new sunrise with eagerness to meet the new day,
And that you sleep each night with peace of mind and spirit.

I pray that as you make your place in this world,
You continue to value honesty, integrity and loyalty above superficial relationships;

And that you build your future on the foundations of our Jewish heritage,
And fill you life with Torah, tzedukah and tradition.

I pray that as you confront the often harsh realities that come with maturity
You can still appreciate the daily miracles that make each day a gift;

And that when you face life's challenges and obstacles,
Your faith in yourself and in Gd will see you through and give you comfort.

I pray that you find someone who will love you without reservation,
Who will stand with you under the chuppah, empower you and defend you with every fiber of his being;

And that you one day experience the fierce joy that fills your soul when you have a child of your own,
So that you can finally understand how our pride in you will never waver, and our love for you can never end.

So today, as you take your place in the Jewish community,
I pray that Gd will always keep you in His sight and in His care,
And that Daddy and I may always stand by your side.

This is so beautiful!
It's perfect!

luv, ~ Loopy Loo ~

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son."

Read this on Saturday. Had the whole congregation in tears by the end (myself included). It may not have rated any comments from the quoteland members, but certainly got the message across to my friends and neighbors. Thanks for all your support.

As Lady Macbeth said:
Do not stand upon the
order of your leaving,
just get the heck out of
here! (thanks RBG)

This will gain power through the years for your daughter, and she well treasure your words.

BTW...have you read "The Red Tent?" Just made me think of it.

Wonderful. May the religious decision she now makes affect her the entirity of her life in the most positive of positive ways, and may her life be completed with the blessings she receives from you through this prayer.

Thank you all.

Loopy Lou - thanks for commenting on it when everyone else ignored it.

Abril - yes, I read The Red Tent, and loved it, but I don't think I was thinking of it when I wrote this.

Exaviour - thank you for your adding your own prayer, as well.

As Lady Macbeth said:
Do not stand upon the
order of your leaving,
just get the heck out of
here! (thanks RBG)

Thank you for sharing the beautiful prayer. I confess I don't visit the Writers' Club too often b/c it's too often been dominated by broken hearts (hopefully the new forum for the lovelorn will help).

In any event, your spoken blessing for your daughter will have infused her with courage and hope as she faces the unknown future. And when her spirits flag, she will pull out your written prayer and persevere.....

Airedale

Bumping myself - she turned 16 the other day.

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The one who is most definitely a leather-clad 25 year old dominatrix dashing to the computer to type posts on this site in between whipping young lads: Rhon

Thanks Fuzz!

Beautiful. I hope the daughter lives this dream, and so does her mother.
Happy B'day to her !

~Skooooz me but I'm crazy.~
-meh, LetswriteNshare

awwwwwwww!

do we get to see a picture?

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Children are the hands by which we take hold of heaven.
-- Henry Ward Beecher (1813 - 1887)

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-

much love, light and laughter,
ananya

*~Come play with my children feel the peace and Scatter some joy.~*
~*Blowing out someone else's candle doesn't make your's burn any brighter.*~
*** Heck was created for those who refuse to believe in Gosh. ***

Brought tears to my eyes, very heartfelt.


16 uh? I remember that age...

Life is real--life is earnest--/ And the grave is not the goal:/ Dust thou art, to dust returnest,/ Was not spoken of the soul. (5-8) Longfellow "A Psalm of Life"

"And if anyone says in a loud voice "Bother, it's Eeyore" I can drop out again."

This makes me think of the relationship I have with my Mom. She would write me similar...letters, I guess you could call them, and I have saved every one of them.

After reading this, I can tell you have a similar relationship with your daughter that my Mom and I have. Way to go, Rhon.

-AmyBeth

"Even the smallest person can change the course of the future." -Galadriel, Lord of the Rings

Dear Rhon,

This was a heartening read. I cannot read hebrew (I am unsure what language other than english you've used sorry) but I do get the sentiment with which it was written.

Very well-written.

~Dee


life is a waste of time, time is a waste of life so get wasted all the time and have the time of your life
-Michelle Mastrolacasa

Rhon, this was beautiful. My father wrote me something similar once and I have kept it always.

Your pint of pineapple beer is still waiting for you here in Oz (it's been a while now, so it's a little flat ).

Gone walkabout, mate? Haven't seen you around these parts for a fair few seasons. Without you here to lend some perspective I suddenly feel ... old ... all these whippersnappers running around the boards these days make me quite giddy .

Peace and peas, Mo

Gulta cavat lapidem non vi sed saepe cadendo.
~ Ovid (43 BC - c. 17 AD), Epistoloe Ex Ponto.

That made me all misty eyed (and I'm at work). Good thing I don't wear eye makeup.

I have a 4 year old little girl, and every night when I tuck her in I tell her, "You know what? In all the kindoms and corporations, wonderlands and underlands, the whole wide world over - if I never get to be anything besides your mommy, that'll be enough for me!"

It has become part of our bedtime routine and she looks forward to hearing it now. She'll even prompt me to say it, but I'll tell ya I never get tired of telling her.

Its a mommy thing, and you've expressed it beautifully. Thanks!

Being 19 and still young, this speech brought me to tears. I bet your daughter was crying too. I guess every mother has there own speech. My mother gave her's at my highschool graduation party. I was bawling. I don't know if a girl or woman can ever fully leave the protective arms of a mother. I know I still can't tear away from her, even though i live 45 minutes away. Thanks for reminding me of the power of a mothers words and her actions.


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"I always thought writing poetry was hard, untill i realized sometimes it just slips magically out of my hands and onto paper." Tina

"Because I could not stop for Death --
He kindly stopped for me --
The carriage held but just ourselves
And immortality."
-Emily Dickinson, Because I Could Not Stop For Death

i like that.

Shalom,
your prayer was exquisite and had all the warmth and beauty one could ever hope for.It is a gift to her. I hope you typed it out and framed it and she shall treasure it all the days of her blessed life.

"I will take the ring" he said "though I do not know the way" frodo

Something must have brought me to this forum this morning. I drop in so infrequently.

For you to create a work such as this tells me a lot about you.

We can see the art in the verse - that's black and white, and powerful.
But what a heart, what a soul to have imagined the words that have moved us.

Thank you for sharing.

Get Curious!

Beautiful prayer... I hope the mother-daughter bond has only grown stronger since "A Prayer For My Daughter" was first posted, Rhon.

Puts me in mind of another mother's poem (written "To My Son" however) with the lines:

None other can pain me as you, dear, can do;
None other can please me or praise me as you.
~ Margaret Johnston Grafflin [1849-1925]

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The opposite of joy is not sorrow. It is unbelief. ~ Leslie Weatherhead
Picture me with my ground teeth stalking joy--fully armed too, as it's a highly dangerous quest. ~ Flannery O'Connor