When Margaret Taylor was 5 years old, she was the littlest kid in the preschool where I was a teacher. She very much wanted to grow up, so I wrote her this poem.
There once was a Margie from Guelph
Who was almost as small as an elf.
She said, “Though I know
That someday I will grow.
I wish I could hurry myself.”
Fifteen years later Margaret’s mother wrote to say that Margaret was now 20. So I sent this poem
There once was a Margie from Guelph
No longer as small as herself.
She said, “Though I know
That it’s me that did grow
Sometimes I still feel like an elf.”
In 1999, Margie’s mother wrote me to say that she was married and having a baby, so I wrote another poem.
There now is a Margie from Guelph
Quite happy to be just herself.
She said, “Cause I’m free”
“To just be me.”
“I’ll get married”
“And have an elf.”
(Margie was the best friend of Jule Ann, who is the kid in MUD PUDDLE, my first book.)