Courteous and kind

Today at work I almost ran into a lady
And as she passed me by
I said “Oh excuse me, please, I am so sorry
I did not see you there, was my reply

She said to me
Please excuse me too
I had my head on my phone
And I was not watching for you

We were very polite to each other
This perfect stranger and I
Then we went on about our way
after we said goodbye

Later, that day
While I was cooking dinner that evening
My son came and stood next to me quietly
He was waiting for my attention

And as I turn to strain the spaghetti in the sink
I nearly knocked him down
“You are in the way son’
I said harshly with a frown

He then bends his head and walks away
Silently with his little heartbroken
I did not realize at that moment
How harshly to him I had spoken

He went and sat on the sofa
I give him dinner and he puts on the TV
And he pretends like my words did not bother him
But on his face, the hurt was clear to see

And later that night, when he was sound asleep
I went into his room and turned down the lights
And I sat on his bed
And I think of what I said to him

Today when I was talking to a perfect stranger
I was very courteous and kind
But I was very harsh when talking to my son
And the thought of it never really crosses my mind

Then I went down to the kitchen
And saw his bike right outside the sliding door
Then I realized that he wanted to show me how he rides his bike
And that is what he was waiting on me before

He did not want to tell me that he learned to ride his bike
He wanted it to be a surprise
And I did not even notice the tears
That had filled up his eyes

So, I went back up and I pulled the sheet over him
And by this time, I felt very small
And I just stood there looking at him
As my tears began to fall

And I said “I am very sorry, son “for the way, I acted today
I should not have yelled at you that way
I thought he was asleep and I was startled
When he said, it is okay Dad, I love you still dad, he says

I made a promise to myself that night
That I would never let that happen again
And would never take for granted the ones I love
and I would cherish every moment with them

because if we died tomorrow
the family we leave behind will feel the loss
others will carry on with their lives easily
Just like a rolling stone, gathers no moss

I did not sleep that night
And I could not wait for the break of dawn
And as soon as the sun came out
I went to his bed and said wake up, wake up son

And I said I cannot wait to see you on the bike
I am so proud that you have learned how to ride
And I could see his face light up like the sun
And I could tell that he was bursting with pride

He gets on his bike
Started going around in circles in the front yard
Saying “Look at me, look at me”
I am riding dad

I am so proud of my little boy
He is everything to me
He is the reason that I am living
And he will always be the most important person to me

My son is the center of my life
And will always be the center of my love
when he was young, I was the rock in his life
and now as I get older, he is the rock in my life

we treat strangers with courtesy and kindness
and we go out of our way to be respectful and kind
and we should not treat our loved ones
less kindly than we do to strangers