Trusting Her Cape

Once she used to stand at the foot of the stairs and could only navigate them upward using her hands and knees. Then she learned to hold the rails and pull herself up step by step. She didn’t always make it to the top. I recall one or two slips and at least one pretty long tumble. Now, without a great deal of thought she climbs these set of steps, along with most any set of steps, with relative ease. It must bore her some though. Recently, she has taken to climbing the outside rung of these stairs as if she is some superhero. Climbing these few steps doesn’t really get her anywhere but leaves her high off the ground with her feet dangling. She must get a bit of pleasure putting a scare in me and her mom as we watch her tip toe along the edge of each step in an attempt to reach the ground from the topmost step. Still, boundaries have to be stretched from time to time. A person has to learn their limits and that can only be done by trying. Sometime, you fall, sometime you don’t.

Eight years old with a flour sack cape tied all around her neck
She climbed up on the garage, she's figurin' what the heck
Well, she screwed her courage up so tight that the whole thing come unwound
She got a runnin' start and bless her heart, she's headed for the ground…
Well, she's one of those who knows that life is just a leap of faith
Spread your arms and hold your breath and always trust your cape

All through her life she will need to take that step forward. Sometimes that first step may be uneasy. It may be where there doesn’t seem to be anything there to stop a fall. Moving ahead though means moving. Sometimes it means going into uncharted areas, places where her feet may seem to dangle into the unknown. Those of us who know her best and love her most will hold our collective breaths and shake our heads at her determination while secretly wishing we had such confidence. Then, there, she will go, taking not just a step forward but a leap outward. Unexplored territory has to be located and traveled on occasion. Sometimes, she’ll fall, sometimes, she won’t.

Now, she's all grown up with a flour sack cape tied all around her dream
And she's full of spit and vinegar and she's bustin' at the seam
Well, she licked her finger and she checked the wind, it's gonna be do or die
And she wasn't scared of nothin', boys, she was pretty sure she could fly…
Well, she's one of those who knows that life is just a leap of faith
Spread your arms and hold your breath and always trust your cape

A lifetime later, there she will stand, ready to move another challenge forward. The steps she takes then may be a bit uneasy reminding her of those first few steps she took on those first few climbs up that stairway in the home where she took her first steps. From experience, she’ll know she sometimes has to fall down and get back up to eventually get to where she wants to be. At times there will be those moments when the steps she takes will take her breath away because for a split second there seems to be nothing under her feet at all. She’s been there before though, so even then, she will trust like she always has. Those who know her then may watch with bewilderment but those who really know her best and love her most will just grin and shake their heads knowing there’s not much that can stop that old gal when she sets her mind to do something. Then the next thing all will know is there she goes again, leaping out, leaping forward. Sometimes, she’ll fall. Sometimes, she won’t. Sometimes though, she will fly.

Now, she's old and gray with a flour sack cape tied all around her head
And she's still jumpin' off the garage and will be till she's dead
All these years the people said, she was actin' like a kid
She did not know she could not fly…and so she did…
Well, she's one of those who knows that life is just a leap of faith
Spread your arms and hold your breath and always trust your cape
Yes, she's one of those who knows that life is just a leap of faith
Spread your arms and hold your breath and always trust your cape

“The Cape” written by Susanna Clark, Jim Janosky, performed best by Guy Clark