So this is it.
It doesn’t feel as big as I thought it would be,
This moment that’s been coming for a while,
Kind of like turning thirteen.
Oh, you’re a teenager now! Yes, but I’m still me.
Nothing’s changed except when I look back and see
The child I used to be.

I see myself.
The face in the mirror is still the same if you know:
Same brows, same eyes, same lips, same ears,
The pieces of my parents’ better parts,
As if we are all one big Potato-Head play set.
God took the best of them and then made me.
And in them I see the child I used to be.

I loved the heels.
I was clomping down the hall in my mother’s shiny shoes
With one of her worn-out purses and all my things:
Lipstick, change purse, and a pack of Juicy Fruit.
I thought I was ready to go.
That old photograph left a faded square behind.
Just a memory of the child I used to be.

I’m dressed in black.
And the picture slideshow tells of happy days, all are smiles.
We’re together one last time, hand-in-hand,
Saying goodbye,
Not knowing what comes next,
But we know just who we are is who we’ll be.
Not much different from the kids we used to be.

I’ll see you soon.
Maybe at the store, at the church, in the hospital room
And I hope it doesn’t feel as big as I thought it would be.
For old time’s sake, let’s make it easy,
I just hope that you will know me.
I’m right here, you see, the child I used to be.

It happened fast.
All the time went by in a million tiny blinks
And it hurt more than I ever thought it would.
I’m glad I didn’t know then what I know now,
And I wouldn’t go back and tell myself a thing.
Lessons learned by living don’t come free
I’d have mercy on me, the child I used to be.

I’m ready now.
It doesn’t feel as big as I thought it would be,
This moment that’s been coming for a while.
The time has come to leave the world behind.
Laid out in front of me is my Lord’s great eternity.
He’ll make it easy,
And I’ll be with Him, finally.
He’ll have mercy on me,
The child I used to be.