11/07/2016

Poem for a Fourteen-Year-Old

     
              FOURTEEN
by
Grandma Baadsgaard
Happy birthday to my amazing grandson Brad. I sure love you.

                                              Today’s the day I turn fourteen.
Afraid I’m losing my summer tan.
This is my time when I’m stuck between
Being a boy and being a man.

Everyone expects so much of me
Just wish that they could see
I’m trying and trying and trying some more
To be the best person I can be.

So don’t say, “My you’re a long green bean.”
Say, “Why Brad, you are so tall and lean.
You are the most awesome eighth grader
This old world has ever seen.”

Sometimes my voice just has to crack
Right at the world’s worst time -
Like when I’m standing near to her
In a very long lunch line.

I always hope its pizza pie
My favorite lunch in junior high.
And even if she doesn’t sit by me
I breathe a sigh when she walks by.

My pants keep getting way too short
And piles of homework is a bore.
But if I win a game after school
I feel like I can soar.

Fourteen is when you start sprouting hair
In all the places where you used to be bare.
But there’s one thing I know for sure
Some days are hard and some days are fair.

Parents say, “Hurry up, don’t be late,
Teachers say, “Your paper is due on this date.”
There are school dances, Scouts and lots more tests -
Homework, housework and no time to rest.

I want to sleep in when it’s time to get up.
I want to stay up when it’s time for bed.
Mostly I’d rather be riding my skate board instead
And Mom says it’s hard to keep me fed.

But even with all the teen times I have
There’s always mom, sister, brothers and dad
A forever family we’ll always be
So I don’t have to spend even one day sad.

Pretty soon I’ll be done with school
And lots and lots and lots of rules.
But I’ll always need a great big hug
And a large, loving family around to love.