If I should have a daughter,
instead of "Mom," she's gonna call me "Point B," because
that way she knows that no matter what happens, at least she can always find
her way to me. And I'm going to paint solar systems on the backs of her hands
so she has to learn the entire universe before she can say, "Oh, I know
that like the back of my hand."
And she's going to learn that
this life will hit you hard in the face, wait for you to get back up just so it
can kick you in the stomach. But getting the wind knocked out of you is the
only way to remind your lungs how much they like the
taste of air. There is hurt,
here, that cannot be fixed by Band-Aids or analgesics.
So the first time she realizes that Wonder
Woman isn't coming, I'll make sure she knows she doesn't have to wear the cape
all by herself because no matter how wide you stretch your fingers, your hands
will always be too small to catch all the pain you want to heal.
Believe me, I've tried.
"And, baby," I'll tell her, don't keep your nose up in the air like
that. I know that trick; I've done it a million times. You're just smelling for
smoke so you can follow the trail back to a burning house, so you can
find the boy who lost
everything in the fire to see if you can save him. Or else find the boy who lit
the fire in the first place, to see if you can change him." But I know she
will anyway, so instead I'll always keep an extra supply of chocolate and rain
boots nearby, because there is no heartbreak that chocolate can't fix. Okay,
there's a few heartbreaks that chocolate can't fix. But that's what the rain boots
are for, because rain will wash away everything, if you let it. I want her to
look at the world through the underside of a glass-bottom boat, to look through
a microscope at the galaxies that exist on the pinpoint of a
human mind, because that's
the way my mom taught me.
That there'll be days like
this.
♫ There'll be days
like this, my momma said. ♫ When you open your
hands to catch and wind up with only blisters and bruises; when you step out of
the phone booth and try to fly and the very people you want to save are the
ones standing on your cape; when your boots will fill with rain, and you'll be
up to your knees in disappointment. And those are the very days you have all
the more reason to say thank you. Because there's
nothing more beautiful than
the way the ocean refuses to stop kissing the shoreline, no matter how many
times it's sent away. You will put the wind in winsome, lose some.
You will put the star in
starting over, and over. And no matter how many land mines erupt in a minute,
be sure your mind lands on the beauty of this funny place called life. And yes,
on a scale from one to over-trusting, I am pretty damn naive. But I want her to
know that this world
is made out of sugar. It can
crumble so easily, but don't be afraid to stick your tongue out and taste it.
"Baby," I'll tell her, "remember, your momma is a worrier, and
your poppa is a warrior, and you are the girl with small hands and big eyes who
never stops asking for more." Remember that
good things come in threes
and so do bad things. And always apologize when you've done something wrong,
but don't you ever apologize for the way your eyes refuse to stop shining. Your
voice is small, but don't ever stop singing. And when they finally hand you
heartache, when
they slip war and hatred
under your door and offer you handouts on street-corners of cynicism and
defeat, you tell them that they really ought to meet your mother.
Tags; Sarah Kay, Tedx, FMB,wonder
woman,chocolate.
Love this, saw u post a link about it at miss petite. Bt ur link is not accessible. I had to Google ur name out. Good job tho
ReplyDeleteAwwww.. Fanks.. Will work on the link.
ReplyDeleteInspirational, could not stop reading, till you led me to the end letter.
ReplyDeleteFanks
ReplyDeletePlease give proper credit to the author - Sarah Kay, and a link back to her and her website or blog.
ReplyDeletePutting her name as a tag is not enough credit.
Don't be fraudulent.
Yes ma/sir
ReplyDelete