Past the point of no return

Up in a cherry picker, picking not cherries but leaves to deliver to my uncle, who insisted on a leaf as proof that we could overcome our vertigo.
Past the point of fear of heights.
Eating enchiladas, realizing too late that Rachel has not been fed and listening to her wordless shriek until our eardrums pop from our heads.
Past the point of healthy ears.
Making popcorn, eating homemade pomegranate ice cream, dipping ginger cookies into your tea and squealing when Yardley bowls a man's head off.
Past the point of turning off the movie.
Staying up 'til all hours, and still being slightly tolerant of the other person's face.
Past the point of not best friends.
Going to each other's houses, wearing each other's clothing, answering each other's questions in Sunday School, listening to Phantom of the Opera, singing to each other...
Past the point of no return.

Uncertainty

There are only a few things we can be sure of in life:
Death
Taxes
Computer crashes
God
Whining
Mosquitos
Bad movies
Faith
Bad internet connection
Heartbreak
Neverland
Large corporations
Tears
Coffee
Trees
Angels
Demons
Dungeons and Dragons
Mice
Children
Deadlines

Tribute to Kat

I wrote this poem for her long ago, but it came back to me as I saw her tonight.

Little kitten
Head like a chick
Soft peach fuzz
Tiny, heavy body
Ears are round
Tiny moons
Eyes like the sea
Tiny stars
You are a poem baby
How soft you are
Downy pillow of a baby
Like springtime coming in summer
Your breath is a tiny breeze
Your hands are flowers
You wriggle like a worm in your sleep
Tiny red mouth
Stretching, yawning, like a Kat
Little kitten

Life Lesson at McDonald's

Can I find some meaning even here in a McDonald's? Miniature dramas play out at each table, two small children touch hands between tables, reaching over barriers of color, age and fear of the unknown. Someone makes room for a stranger in an aisle. Eyes meet from across the room, oldie-goldie music plays from the speakers. A woman explains to a man sitting across from her that the fact that they are eating here proves that they are still young - old people don't eat at McDonald's. The woman is white, the man is black.
An 18-month-old child is already eating the foods that may render her obese in her twenties. A young mother slaps her two-year-old for crying. A man curses, then catches himself, then curses again. A young man philisophically ponders what to get from the menu, perhaps his most important decision today.
A boy tells his mother about school Cell phones beedle, children yelp. This is life. This is meaning. There is meaning everywhere, all around me.
Even in McDonald's.