The Gift of Life

Once in a lifetime, or maybe more,
an individual enters our lives
in a precious and powerful way.
For some of us, the special person
stays for only a moment,
For others, longer.
For some it is a child that is only a brief dream
and then a bittersweet memory
But each of us is somehow aware
that we have experienced a small presence
that will not leave us unchanged.
How very softly you tiptoed into my world.
Almost silently, only a moment you stayed.
But what an imprint your footprints
have left upon my heart.