Counting

They counted down the days until my inevitable birth.

They counted the amount of time between each contraction.

They counted the exact year, month, day, hour, minute, and second of my birth.

They counted down the days until my first word, step, and birthday.

They counted the number of I love you’s.

They counted down the days until my first day of school.

They counted down the days until I was no longer a child, but a grown man.

They counted on me finding the love of my life.

They counted the number of children she birthed.

They counted on me keeping count, because my kin will not live forever, just like I won’t.

I counted the number of blessings that have been dealt to me.

I will keep count of the memories to cherish.

No one can count down the days until my inevitable death, but each passing day I count a new loving memory.