For Melissa on her Thirtieth Birthday

  I wish I had known you when you were just three,
  to see that bright smile directed toward me.
  And when you were twelve, all grown up, but unsure
  of what you would do when fully mature,

  I'll bet you were gorgeous with bright, golden hair.
  In all that you did, there was passionate flair.
  At eighteen, I wish I had been there to see
  you're first taste of just what it meant to be free!

  But then when I needed a friend by my side,
  at nineteen I met you. Remember, we cried?
  The men in our lives were uncaring and rude.
  We bonded that night-found a new attitude.

  Then friendship did blossom and thrive through the years.
  We shared all our joys, all our sorrow and tears.
  And now you are thirty, and I'm feeling blessed,
  because I am privileged to share in the rest

  of the years that await you. As time marches on,
  I'm grateful to God for our special bond.
  So don't be dismayed as time turns it's clock.
  Age does not matter. Is that quite a shock?

  It's not as important as love and good will,
  and knowing that you have a friend in me, still.
  Together we'll face the events of our time,
  and look back and smile, when we reach our prime.

  For then we'll remember the times that we spent
  together back then...how they seemed heaven sent.
  When you were but thirty, and I, thirty-two,
  our friendship was full grown, and lovely and true.

  And so, my dear friend, I want you to know,
  at thirty and sixty, I will love you, so.


  -Nancy Briscar Martel

  ©1999

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