Not Like You

As a little girl, the teacher always asked,

"What do you want to be when you leave this class? "
Some would say doctors and other's be lawyers
Each one thinking of future employeers.
I'd blurt out vet, teacher or such
Not ever thinking it'd matter much. 
Then the question was posed that was easy for some
Yet somehow, it made me numb.
A father? A mother?
I started to smother. 
I didn't want to yell at my child,
I wanted their emotions to run wild. 
I thought to myself and answered with fear,
"I don't want to be like my mother, dear."
So I said to myself and worked up a smile,
"A mother I'll be, just NOT like you by a mile"

Written by Kerrie (Alford) Anderson
Fall 2009