We tried so hard to make things better for our kids that we made them
worse. For my grandchildren, I'd like better. I'd really like for them
to know about hand-me down clothes and homemade ice cream and left over
meatloaf sandwiches.
I hope you learn humility by being humiliated, and that you learn
honesty by being cheated. I hope you learn to make your bed and mow the
lawn and wash the car. And I really hope nobody gives you a brand new
car when you are sixteen.
It will be good if at least one time you can see puppies born and your
old dog put to sleep. I hope you get a black eye fighting for something
you believe in.
I hope you have to share a bedroom with your younger brother. And it's
all right if you have to draw a line down the middle of the room, but
when he wants to crawl under the covers with you because he's scared, I
hope you let him. When you want to see a movie and your little sister
wants to tag along, I hope you'll let her.
I hope you have to walk uphill to school with your friends and that you
live in a town where you can do it safely. On rainy days when you have
to catch a ride, I hope you don't ask your 'driver' to drop you two
blocks away so you won't be seen riding with someone as uncool as your
Mom.
If you want a slingshot, I hope your Dad teaches you how to make one
instead of buying one. I hope you learn to dig in the dirt and read
books. When you learn to use computers, I hope you also learn to add and
subtract in your head. I hope you get teased by your friends when you
have your first crush on a girl, and when you talk back to your mother
that you learn what Ivory soap tastes like.
May you skin your knee climbing a mountain, burn your hand on a stove
and stick your tongue on a frozen flagpole. I don't care if you try a
beer once, but I hope you don't like it. And if a friend offers you dope
or a joint, I hope you realize he is not your friend.
I sure hope you make time to sit on a porch with your Grandma and go
fishing with your Uncle. May you feel sorrow at a funeral and joy
during the holidays. I hope your Mother punishes you when you throw a
baseball through a neighbor's window and that she hugs you and kisses
you at Christmas time when you give her a mold of your hand.
These things I wish for you - tough times and disappointment, hard work
and happiness. To me, it's the only way to appreciate life.
"We secure our friends not by accepting favors but by doing them."
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