Face the Fact that You Are Still a Child

Face the fact that you are still a child --
Older, yes, of course, but a child still,
Remembered, valued, loved unceasingly
Though far away and wholly on your own.
Years pass, yet that identity remains.
So you may recall how once we smiled
Each time you tested out your fledgling will,
Voicing an assumed authority
Eventually becoming yours alone.
Nor can one tell the losses from the gains.