These Things I Wish For Each Of You

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 leftover meatloaf
sandwiches.

I really would. My cherished grandson, 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. I hope you have a job
by then. It will be good if at least one time
you can see a baby calf 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 Disney movie and your
little brother wants to tag along, I hope you'll
let him. I hope you have to walk uphill to
school with your friends and that you live in a
town where it you can do it safely. On rainy
days when you have to catch a ride I hope your
driver doesn't have 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 those
newfangled computers, I hope you also learn to
add and subtract in your head.

I hope you get razzed 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 you hand on stove and
stick your tongue on a frozen flagpole.

I hope you get sick when someone blows cigar
smoke in your face. I don't care if you try 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 grandpa
and go fishing with your uncle. May you feel
sorrow at a funeral and the joy of 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 plaster of Paris mold of
your hand.

These things I wish for you - tough times and
disappointment, hard work and happiness.


Love - Words