The Tyger and The Lamb

My dearest girls,
I once had a friend who I loved very dearly. I will tell you girls now that sometimes love isn’t enough. There are interactions we can stop and move in slow motion- ones that seemed benign at the moment but were so silently catastrophic that it ended a lifelong friendship. I can cautiously turn the dial through each distinct movement, dissecting the moments into their rawest elements and seeing the things we could have done differently to encourage a different outcome. But that’s hindsight 20/20, and no one has that in the moment. With the way it ended up, would a different outcome have really prolonged the relationship anyway? When those we love choose to stop fighting for those emotions, we must make the choice to chase them or let them walk that path away from you.

Many times in my life, I have chosen to chase, but when these people choose to walk out of your lives, my girls, I must let them walk away for good. Things like this break my heart… especially when these people challenge me and bring me to open my heart and home (not something, you will learn, that comes easily for me) to them. But you girls are why I do what I do every single day.

There are men and women in your life who will love you always, even if they are no longer here to see you- however they have come to pass through- and this letter is proof of that. Someday, we will talk more about them, but for now I will share this: the specific downfall of this friendship is over what was explained in this letter, emailed to me 12/5/2014. I never asked because I already knew… I knew about the “y”. But that is neither here nor there anymore.

I was saving it for a time when you were both a bit older to understand, but since I have taken down these images [mentioned in the letter] from your rooms, I guess this may come to pass as just pretty words once penned to paper from a passerby who decided to leave your life by choice. To me, they will always hold a special place in my mind… though, perhaps, not my heart.

No… that space is sacred.

Dear Camille and Adelaide,

You are sisters whose Imaginations are filled with color, joy, mystery, and adventure. It sounds Romantic, but it’s true. Your Imaginations will control all Reason and welcome all of life’s imperfections. Together you are “The Lamb” and “The Tyger”. Both are inseparable. You cannot have one without the other. Camille, like The Lamb, you have a “tender,” young, innocent voice. Adelaide you are The Tyger; your mind is “burning bright.” Sweet, Innocent Camille—you must have faith and understand that your older sister will be there to teach and guide you with her fierce Experience.

Adelaide I know there will be times in your life when the world will question why your name is spelled with a “Y” and not an “I.” My name is spelled with a “Y”, too. It’s Okay. God smiled “his work to see” because he knew such Fierce, not little, Tygers are born this way; however, there will be times when the world will “fear” your Power. But promise me, you will always, always believe in your Strength, although it will be difficult. It’s true– for “When the stars threw down their spears, / And water’d heaven with their tears:” During those difficult times, I want you to call on your sister, The Lamb. You are both inseparable. “The Lamb” and “The Tyger”. Believe, never doubt. “Did he who made the Lamb make thee?” Yes, Adelaide:

Tyger, Tyger burining (sic) bright,

In the forests of the night;

What immortal hand or eye,

Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

Believe, never doubt “The Tyger”:

Tyger, Tyger burning bright,

In the forests of the night:

What immortal hand or eye,

Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

“Dare” the World, Adelaide Eileen! Never doubt the Good and learn to love and appreciate the Innocent minds. It is best to celebrate difference. You must learn to recognize the striking “symmetry” between two things that are not the same. It is their shared differences that make them inseparable. Balanced.

Little Lamb who made thee

Dost thou know who made thee

Sweet Camille Thea, Little Lamb, as your [I will explain this to you another day, Millie], “I’ll tell thee!” We’re here to celebrate your life, love, and faith. Today your presence is “making all the vales rejoice!”

He is called by thy name,

For he calls himself a Lamb:

He is meek & he is mild,

He became a little child:

I a child & thou a lamb,

We are called by his name.

Yes, both The Lamb and The Tyger “are called by His name.” Different, yes. But we are all the same. “Little Lamb God bless thee.” Fierce Tyger God bless thee. Little Lamb fill the world with color and joy—solve life’s greatest mysteries, embrace inquiry, and seek adventure. But do not fear Little Lamb your Tyger will protect you. Always.

References:

Blake, William. “The Lamb.” English Romantic Writers. 2 nd ed.
Ed. David Perkins. Boston: Heinle & Heinle, 1995. Print.

— -. “The Tyger.” English Romantic Writers. 2 nd ed. Ed. David
Perkins. Boston: Heinle & Heinle, 1995. Print.

Love each other forever, girls. Do what you can to make your relationship stronger, love wholly, forgive completely, and never walk out on the other.