Patron Saint of Innocence

For Melissa

How is it you’re so strong when you’re his only hope??

It follows, that neither of us could understand why it happens. If I raise my hand high enough, I should be able to touch the sky, and catch a star for this crying child in my arms.

Why he got burned I don't know; she would have sold her soul for those hands to have been hers. Her baby's crying in her arms, scared and unsure why it hurts so bad.

The strength of a mother figure, this is her without boundaries, this is her when she knows the world is betting against him, and she's his only hope. This is her when her baby has no where else to turn.

How must it feel to know that your joy in life is limited so?

That he will never feel so many of life's greatest pleasures, he will never fall in love, and he will never hold his own children.

Here is happiness in a boy, patron saint of Goldfish snack crackers and Disney DVDs, 5 years old and still learning to walk, talk, move. Not like me and you.

And yet, more beautiful, because he loves people the only way he knows how. He can't judge you or me; he can't second guess us for failing.

This beautiful tragic baby in her arms. Angelic in his sleep, he can't hear her tears as they run down her cheeks.

Give them both hope, Take mine and give it to them, as I find my hope in him.