Newsletter only child Spring 2023

TCF Newsletter | tcf.org.uk 7 stolen and not hers to give nor mine to keep. She never told me that the dance would end. I assumed it wouldn’t end. “Just enjoy it”. said Joy. “while you can...", I heard in the silence. So I covered Joy’s gift in love so that Sorrow couldn’t find it. Couldn’t claim it. And Joy covered us both. She did her best to deceive Sorrow and keep us safe. But. Sorrow came in the summer. She fought with Joy. She fought with me. I wanted to keep what Joy had given me. We fought hard over it. Joy and I lost in the summer. Sorrow took my breath away. Sorrow banished Joy. I watched Joy leave and felt stripped. Bereft. Destitute. Longing for what Joy had given me that Spring so long ago. Longing too for Joy. Sadness, Grief and Anguish arrived. They brought nothing. They offered nothing. They stayed. I wanted more than my empty handed companions. I tried to push them away. I didn’t want them in my life. Sorrow had left me with different friends. They didn’t dance. They stayed. Joy came back in the Spring. This time she brought nothing. But I could dance with Joy while the others watched. I wanted to dance with Joy. I accepted her as she arrived. Empty handed but sincere. We couldn’t dance all the time she said. We had to be mindful of our other companions now too. But we danced again. The others watched as Joy and I danced. And Joy and I stopped dancing sometimes to gave them attention when they demanded it. We learned. We adjusted. We gave each other space. And they stayed.