Her eyes glimmer and her lips start to curve as she breaks into a smile
Holding her teddy bear tight
So simple, yet so complex is her life
Gooing and drooling all day
No responsibilities, nothing to say
She looks at every little thing trying to understand what is going on
Groggy from trying to make sense of things all day, she fades into a deep sleep
Her teddy bear in her grasp
In a blink of an eye that same little girl is catching the school bus for a ride
Her teddy bear is still at her side
When she enters the school, the aroma of new books fills the air
the pencils, the paper, the shiny floors, everything is new
She is nervous and scared to see all these faces for the first time
“Hi I’m Annie” says a girl
A weight has been lifted off her shoulders, she has someone to talk to and is no longer scared
The day ends and the girl leaves with homework and a new friend
As night comes she goes to bed with a her teddy bear by her head
In the blink of an eye she is in the 6th grade
with pimples, an attitude, and an uncontrollable rage
She worries about her clothes, her hair, her face
Certain people seem to have everything in place
She makes fun of a kid at school
Her and Annie pick on him for not being cool
She does her school work and gets all A’s
Her dad is worried her being nasty is more than a phase
She goes to bed that night
Her teddy bear no longer by her side
In the blink of an eye she is in high school
She has sports, and a job, and wants to do well
With no sleep the bags under her eyes swell
She straighteners her hair
Hoping the boys will care
She tries her best not to be mean
But sometimes her and her friends bicker
When her license comes she is hardly ever seen
She goes to bed that night
Her teddy bear nowhere in sight
In the blink of an eye senior year starts
She no longer cares what others think
She wants to be nice and help people who might sink
With new friends by her side she walks with pride
She worries about college and where to apply
Her father's expectations of her are so high
With fears of no future a tear runs down her cheek
It is all too much too fast, “where did all the time go she asks”
Her father hugs her and says “It's all going to be okay”
He smiles, for he loves her to the moon and back
That night she goes to bed holding her teddy bear tight
In the blink of an eye she has been admitted to college and is moving in
She is excited to get her future on its way
Nervous about meeting her roommates, she begins to pace
They greet her with smiles on their faces and they feel like they have known each other forever
That night, as she goes to sleep, she unpacks one last box
She takes her teddy bear out and puts him on the shelf
“It is all going to be okay”