LETTING GO AND HOLDING ON.

Children -- so fragile.
Mere lumps of clay.
We shape them with actions,
not just what we say.

By being there for them,
their trust we do earn.
They're safe when they're with us,
we help them to learn

that if they get weary
or life gives them a scare,
our shoulders are strong,
their burden we'll bear.

We teach them it's okay
to depend on "others" -
For children, this usually
means fathers and mothers.

So that when they're older
the dependency moves
from early role models,
to the partners they choose.

They won't have the walls,
or in bitterness drown.
No looming expectancy
of being let down.

It's harder to learn
how to love now, I'm older.
That it's really "okay"
to lean on a shoulder

of one who is unlike
the model I knew.
As a kid, I grew up
with one model - not two.

And so I learned early
that it's better to stay
alone, with my guard up -
I'd be there anyway.

Never knowing a strong man
to stand by my side,
I built up my fortress
and hid deep inside.

Its rooms are so empty,
its floors just grow colder.
I'm no little kid,
and as I grow older

I'm starting to realize
the thing I want most,
is what I never got
from my father, The Ghost.

To terms I have come
and I feel like I'm ready
to let go and let HIS hand
be what keeps me steady.

If you have your own child,
or one dear to your heart -
remember these words:
Teach well, do your part.

So then they can grow up
with hearts in good health,
knowing love is by far
the greatest of wealth.