My Greatest Gift

My Greatest Gift


Iva Mae and Jayne Ellen Durham


When I was a child, I had a doll with soft and flowing hair,
with eyes that blinked and lashes long, sitting on a chair.
She was my only friend, an imaginary one they said,
Though, oftentimes, she talked to me in her little head.

I sang to her each morning. We had milk and tea at night.
She loved me like no other. We never had a fight.
She stayed with me a long time, past when she should have fled.
She couldn't stay they told me, and they took her from my bed.

In time, I got used to life alone with no one there to care.
I had no parents, just got along the best I could out there.
Though I never told anyone, who would I tell? There was no phone.
No one to confide in, anyway, that I wanted someone all my own.

But one day I met Billy, fell in love, became a wife.
In about a year, my Janie came, I had a brand new life.
My daughter was so perfect, so beautiful, so smart.
A perfect gift to give me, one that filled my heart.

I never tired of holding her. I did it when she slept,
just looking at her baby skin, her hair perfectly kept.
In gowns of pink, ribbons of satin, all that money could buy.
I looked at what I was given, always loved, my sweetie pie.

I know she isn't perfect, though she seems so to me.
She's the smartest girl I ever knew, just sharp as she can be.
She can tell a story, tears of laughter fall down my face.
She can make up a song or rhyme, dance all over the place.

She can read a stranger's face, be he foe or friend.
I trust her with my life and more and will to the very end.
People come and people go, but none excite me more
than when I hear her knocking, see her peeping through the door.

One touch of her soft hand on mine, one kiss on fragile skin
means more to me than all the gold or accomplishments of men.
A hug from her will cure the ills of many aches or pain.
A smile from her is like the colored rainbow after the rain.

My time is near to say goodbye but this one thing I know.
The greatest gift, the greatest love, anyone could bestow
was given me. Who could have known, my arms would ever hold
the daughter I hold so dear, worth more than diamonds icy cold?

I pray she knows how much I love her, and have since she was born.
If so, she must know she's been truly loved, from my heart never torn.
If God is interested in such things, I hope and pray that He
well let her hand be held in mine, her sweet face the last I see.