A Personal Change Experience Poem by Keith Shorrocks Johnson

I just found an album
Of Photo Memories
Compiled by my wife
Around 2005
And in it an essay
That she prepared as
An assignment for her
Masters' in Public Policy:
A ‘Retrospective Account
Of a Personal Change Experience'.

She wrote:

‘My pregnancy was planned.
My partner and I
Had been together
For only a few months.
With hindsight it was probably
An impulsive and risky decision
To try for a baby at that early stage
But it felt good and was very romantic.
We were in love,
In the early days of a love affair
When the world is seen through
Rose-tinted glasses.
We were happy and excited
At the prospect of having
A child together.
I have a vivid memory of that night,
After the positive pregnancy test,
When we walked hand in hand
Down Oriental Parade.
It was one of the happiest moments of my life.
I think this made a difference psychologically,
In the way I felt emotionally
Both during and after the change unfolded.
That is, I believe I adjusted more easily
To my new role as a mum
Because it was something I both desired and planned,
And was associated with a joyful period of my life.
Burns (1993, p.37)has noted that
Voluntary change is easier to adjust to.'

[Burns, R., (1993)Managing people in Changing Times
St Leonards, N.S.W., Allen and Unwin.]

I have never read anything more beautiful
Than my wife's words.