Unusually Sombre Thoughts

I sit down to write something pithy and amusing, but then

I watch the children playing in the garden and smile&;#8230;

We are lucky people

A lovely house, six up, five down, and a large lot where the little
ones can come to no harm

We are not rich, but we don't have to worry about money

and both of us has high earning potential, if we put our talents to
good use

Which we do - him more than me

But that is material stuff, without which we would survive
admirably

I'm not a religious person, but I feel thankful for our continuing
contentment and good health

But the old adage does hold true - the harder we worked, the luckier we
became

Trauma and tragedy have touched our lives, but made us stronger

We have been able to accept our fate through mutual support, deal with
events as best we can and move on

The older children are beginning to make their own ways in the world
and I feel honoured that they still want us to be a part of their
lives

We must have done something right along the magical mystery ride of
parenthood, though probably more by luck than judgement

I can't believe that we become parents at a stage in our own
development when we are still virtually clueless

No time to be entrusted with a brand new life, totally dependent on us
for all life's essentials

You can read every book there is, but you still have no inkling of how
it feels to be completely responsible for a helpless human being and
one that has no mercy - especially when exercising that strong pair of
lungs they all come equipped with

My childhood was hideous, as was his - perhaps that made us both try
that much harder

Who knows, perhaps we gravitated towards each other, sensing a kindred
spirit

Of course, it could equally have been detrimental, in the way that
abused children become the abusers in adulthood

That is sad and it doesn't have to be - we are living proof of
that

We have evolved into happiness and contentment, but our memories are
not too short to forget the crueller experiences of life

The thought of what might have been hovers - far too traumatic to allow
a grain of 'smug' into our awareness

Goodness me, no.