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When You Thought I Wasn’t Looking

I don’t forward a lot of emails, in fact, I could comfortably say that I forward less than 1/2 of 1% of the viral emails I get, but every once in a while, I get something that is good enough to save and share. Forwarding an email is very ephemeral and often is missed as people drudge through their inbox to find the important stuff, so if something is really, really good and needs to be saved for future reference (on my part at least) and if I think there might be one person who would find this in the time they need it, I consider posting it on this website. Now, granted, most of the material on this website was written by me, but there are some things worth reading no matter who wrote them and I think this is one of them. I don’t know who the author is and when I tried to find the author, I found no one else who seemed to know. So unfortunately, I can’t give proper credit, but suffice it to say that if I discover the author at a later date, I’ll be sure to update this post to reflect that information. Enjoy!

When You Thought I Wasn’t Looking

When you thought I wasn’t looking I saw you hang my
First painting on the refrigerator, and I immediately
Wanted to paint another one.

When you thought I wasn’t looking I saw you feed a
Stray cat, and I learned that it was good to be kind
To animals.

When you thought I wasn’t looking I saw you make my
Favorite cake for me, and I learned that the little
Things can be the special things in life.

When you thought I wasn’t looking I heard you say a
Prayer, and I knew that there is a God I could always
Talk to, and I learned to trust in Him.

When you thought I wasn’t looking I saw you make a
Meal and take it to a friend who was sick, and I
Learned that we all have to help take care of each other.

When you thought I wasn’t looking I saw you take care
Of our house and everyone in it, and I learned we have
To take care of what we are given.

When you thought I wasn’t looking I saw how you
Handled your responsibilities, even when you didn’t
Feel good, and I learned that I would have to be
Responsible when I grow up.

When you thought I wasn’t looking I saw tears come
From your eyes, and I learned that sometimes things
Hurt, but it’s all right to cry.

When you thought I wasn’t looking I saw that you
Cared, and I wanted to be everything that I could be..

When you thought I wasn’t looking I learned most of
life’s lessons that I need to know to be a good and
productive person when I grow up.

When you thought I wasn’t looking I looked at you and
Wanted to say,’ Thanks for all the things I saw when
You thought I wasn’t looking.’

One comment

  1. Katherine A Johnson

    I wanted to say “thank you” for posting that poem. We may not know who wrote it, but it was written by someone who had been inspired by someone. This poem inspires me to be all that I can in this short life we have here on this earth. God gives us so many opportunities to do good things, and we need to do them so that others who see will want to do the same. I had a history teacher in high school who inspired me by a quote and I think this is a good time to post it. Mr Roller said “the roots of the present are deep in the past”. That is so true, and when I read this poem, I can see how things are handed down through generations, but can also inspire others lives as well. We need to strive to be that person that someone was watching and learned from. Katherine A Johnson

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