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What I'd Like for
My Grandchildren
by Lee Pitts
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 meat loaf
sandwiches. I really would. I hope you learn humility by
being humiliated, and that you learn honesty by being
cheated. I hope you learn to make your own 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 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 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 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 Grandpa 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 you neighbor's window and that
she hugs you and kisses you at Christmas time when you
give her a plaster 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. |
