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| Jack's daughter Lindsey |
Author: Victor Buono
World, I bequeath to you today one little girl in a crispy dress... with two blue eyes...and a happy laugh that ripples all day long, and a batch of light blonde hair that bounces in the sunlight when she runs. I trust you'll treat her well.
She's off to her first day at school, and never again will she be completely mine.
Prim and proud, she'll wave a young and independent hand this morning, and say goodbye and walk with little-lady steps to the nearby schoolhouse.
Now, she will learn to stand in lines and wait by the alphabet for her name to be called.
She will learn to tune her little-girl ears for the sound of school bells, and for deadlines.
She will learn to giggle, and to look at the ceiling in a disinterested way when the little boy across the aisle sticks out his tongue.
She will learn how it is to feel hurt inside...and she will learn how not to cry. No longer will she have time to sit on the front porch steps on a summer day and watch while an ant scurries across a crack in the sidewalk.
Now she will worry about important things like grades and what dresses to wear. Now she will worry about the little boy who pulls her hair at recess time, and staying after school, and which little girls like which little boys, and the wonder of books and knowledge will soon take the place of her games and dolls. And she'll find her new heroes.
For five full years I've been her pal and playmate, her parent and friend. Now, she'll learn to share her adoration with her teachers (which is only right).
No longer will her parents be the smartest and greatest in the world. Today, when the first school bell rings, she'll learn how it is to be a member of the group with all its privileges, and, of course, its disadvantages, too.
She'll learn in time that proper young ladies don't laugh out loud or keep frogs in pickle jars in bedrooms or watch ants scurry across the cracks in a summer sidewalk.
Today, she'll begin to learn for the first time that all who smile at her are not her friends. That "the group" can be demanding, and I'll stand on the porch and watch her start out on the long, long journey to becoming a woman.
So WORLD, I BEQUEATH TO YOU TODAY ONE LITTLE GIRL in a crispy dress, with two blue eyes, a happy laugh that ripples all day long, and a batch of light blonde hair that bounces in the sunlight when she runs.
I TRUST YOU'LL TREAT HER WELL.
Absolutely beautiful! My daughter is starting her Sophomore year in college and I soooo miss those Elementary days!
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely wonderful...Jack you had tears in my eyes listening to you earlier. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteWow! sniffle, sniffle
ReplyDeleteI heard this on the way home from my job today, I'm working in the office of a brand new school (Oak Grove Classical Christian School in Bel Air) and couldn't contain my tears. I thought of all the new little ones going to school for the first time & even those that may have been homeschooled & are going to school for the first time outside of their familiar home setting. They were a mix of emotions thinking of both the children's and parent's & how happy & sad they'll be all at the same time. I know the Lord will hold them & keep them til their parents come back for them. Thank you for posting this beautiful reminder of the beauty of our children's youth. (I confess some of those tears were personal as my little girl starts Kindergarten on Tuesday, but I'm blessed to be at the school to sneak a peek :) ).
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