[jocon307]

This was a great letter, thanks for posting it. It is very poignant and true to life. I especially liked this part "As it turned out, I got very little help. But hey, I'm not complaining,..." That is a very true-to-life statement, it is not possible to doubt a word after that. I also liked this "Kahlil Gibran said it well in his famous poem, "Your children do not belong to you. They are the sons and daughters of life's longing for itself." Very true, and I've never heard it before.

[OldFriend]

Khalil Gibran has much to offer. I used something from his book as part of my wedding ceremony.

[sarasmom]

On Children:
Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you, but not from you.
And although they are with you yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts, for they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls, for their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archers hand be for gladness.
For even as He loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.
THE PROPHET
Kahil Gibran
1923