I’ve never been one for aphorisms, but every so often, I’ll come across a few lines, usually poetry, that speak truth to me. Not long after having my third child, my mother-in-law passed along a poem. It was entitled, “On the Birth of a Child in Ireland.” After a little digging, I discovered that these lines were written by the Irish poet Daniel Kelleher, to honor the christening of the son of the Irish diplomat (and future ambassador to the U.S.), T.J. Kiernan. Ambassador Kiernan read the poem to John F. Kennedy after his son John, Jr. was born in 1960. When John, Jr. died in 1999, his uncle Ted Kennedy recited the poem again, at his eulogy.
I keep a photocopy of it in my bathroom drawer to get a peek of it everyday. It helps remind me, amidst 
the pressures and minutia of everyday modern life, what I really want for my children: curiosity, gratitude, and love, love, and more love.
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