By: Erin Lantsberger
Major: Nursing
Year: Junior
Hometown: Pleasant Hill, CA
Every story has a beginning, middle, and end.
Even though I was not there when you first began,
and could not be there when it all ended,
I was your middle.
A wise man once said that it is the journey that matters
I was your voyage.
Without me you would have never grown into the man you are today,
nor I the woman.
In those times, I was your middle.
I was the prepubescent porcelain face you claimed was your favorite.
I was the rosy cheeks you kissed while we slow danced in a room full of strangers.
I was the dazzling dress and fresh makeup that you paraded around during our coming of age.
I was the tank top and bathing suit filling the room with the sweet smell of summer.
I was the tear-stained face that you walked away from, never looking back.
At that moment, the end was nearing,
but all the same, I was your middle.
When beginnings transform to middle
and middle to end,
those we love become those we loved.
And though at one time I was grieving for you,
then indifferent towards you,
then hated you,
slowly I stopped missing you,
stopped hating you,
stopped waiting for you,
yet I never stopped loving you.
And still today, no part of me
would every want to change the time
when I was your middle.