I trust you'll treat her well

A dear friend gave me this poem a few days ago and i could help but cry. So i thought I'd share with all of you.



Dear World:
I bequeath to you today one little girl... In a crisp dress.. with two blue eyes.. and a happy laugh that ripples all day long.. and a flash of light blonde hair that bounces in the sunlight when she runs. I trust you'll treat her well.

She's slipping out of the backyard of my heart this morning.. and skipping off down the street to her fist day of school. And never again will she completely mine. Prim and proud she'll wave her young and independent hand this morning to say "Good bye".. and walk with little lady steps to the school house.

Now she'll learn to stand in a line.. and wait by the alphabet for her name to be called. She'll learn to tune her ears to the sound of school-bells.. and deadlines.. and she'll learn to giggle.. and gossip.. and look at the ceiling in a disinterested way when the little boy across the aisle sticks out his tongue at her. And now she'll learn to be jealous. And now she'll learn how it is to feel hurt inside. And now she'll learn how not to cry.

No longer will she have time to sit on the front porch steps on a summer day and watch an ant scurry across the crack in the side walk. Nor will she have time to pop out of bed with the dawn to kiss lilac blossoms in the morning dew. No, now she'll worry about important things. Like grades.. and which dress to wear.. and who's best friend is whose. And the magic of books and learning will replace the magic of her blocks and dolls. And now she'll find new heroes.

For five years now I've been her sage and Santa Claus and pal and playmate and Mother and friend. Now she'll learn to share her worship with her teachers.. which is only right.. But, no longer will i be the smartest women in the whole world. Today when that school bell rings for the first time.. she'll learn what it means to be a member of a group. with all its privileges. And it's disadvantages too.

She'll learn in time that proper young ladies do not laugh out loud. Or kiss dogs. Or keep frogs in Pickle jars in the bedrooms. Or even watch ants scurry across cracks in the summer sidewalk.

Today she'll learn for the first time that all who smile at her are not her friends. And I'll stand on the front porch and watch her start out on the long, lonely journey to become a woman.

So, World. I bequeath to you today one little girl.. in a crisp dress.. with two blue eyes and a happy laugh that ripples all day long.. and a flash o flight blonde hair that bounces in the sunlight when she runs. I trust you'll treat her well.



by: Victor Buono