Like a butterfly

emerging from its' cocoon,

I have witnessed you blossom from playing with paper dolls

to wearing perfume.

I am amazed as I watch you

care for your own home and family,

because in my mind I still see you as the same little girl

smiling over a bandaged knee.

The little fingers that once

gleefully crushed wild flowers in your hand,

now proudly display the mature promises

of a wedding band.

All through your schoolgirl crushes,

and even your first date,

I was always too busy growing up myself

to see you following the same fate.

If given the chance

I would take your hand in mine,

and together we would travel back for a moment

to a more innocent time.

I would then reveal to you, little sister,

how much I honestly did care;

if life would give me the opportunity

to take you back there.

However, life is not as simple

as it was in those earlier days,

and now the winds of time

have blown us separate ways.

So, while I dearly love you, little sister,

for the woman you have grown up to be,

I will always treasure you as the smiling little girl

tucked away in my memory.