To All the Little Girls

• There once was a little girl who didn’t understand all the rules.
• The little girl has no idea why mommy and daddy fight so much.
• The little girl doesn’t comprehend why her family goes to the church they do.
• The little girl can’t understand why people touch her when she doesn’t want them to.
• The little girl wants her daddy to hold her and love her.
• The little girl hates boys because boys have cooties and are disgusting.
• The little girl loves her best friend and wants to see her all the time.
• The little girl loves her animals and wishes she could save them all.
• The little girl just wants to be all grown up like mommy if she only knew how.
• The little girl doesn’t understand why grandma fell asleep and had to be buried with all the other grandmas that fell asleep.
• The little girl hates getting spanked for only doing what she thought was right.
• The little girl is scared to death when she has to move from house to house.
• The little girl sees mommy and daddy as superheroes.
• The little girl can’t understand why her daddy doesn’t come visit her more often.
• The little girl gets old enough to like the attention from little boys.
• The little girl wants to be liked by the cool kids so she tries to impress them.
• The little girl feels changes in her body and doesn’t understand why.
• The little girl senses older people looking at her differently and it makes her uncomfortable.
• The little girl wishes her family was like her friend’s family.
• The little girl feels all kinds of special on her sweet sixteenth birthday.
• The little girl now has one little boy that she calls hers.
• The little girl lets her boyfriend explore her maturing body because that’s what all the other little girls do.
• The little girl feels jealous when her boyfriend flirts with other girls.
• The little girl thinks life is over when her little boy breaks her heart.
• The little girl realizes she missed her friends while she was sidetracked by her little boy.
• The little girl learns there are some sports she’s good at and some activities she’d rather not do.
• The little girl gets some attention from a new little boy and notices her pain has subsided.
• The little girl nervously goes all the way with this new little boy and she’s bittersweet because she realizes she’s no longer that same little girl.
• The little girl proudly wears her cap and gown across the stage for graduation.
• The little girl still has no idea what her life is for but makes plans anyway because that’s what the adults do.
• The little girl goes to college and things fall apart with the other little boy.
• The little girl learns that everything her parents taught her about the world may not be accurate.
• The little girl is convinced she’ll find herself if she stares into the bottom of enough empty wine glasses.
• The little girl experiments with many things her religious grandparents would blush at.
• The little girl realizes she needs to grow up and start taking life more seriously.
• The little girl discovers a worldview and assumes all her confusion about life is now answered.
• The little girl meets “The One” and her life is quickly full of wedding plans.
• The little girl walks down the aisle and has never felt more special in her life.
• The little girl feels secure and happy for quite some time.
• The little girl soon realizes life still isn’t perfect and something tells her it’s her husband’s fault.
• The little girl calculates what’s missing in her life and she’s soon pregnant.
• The little girl watches Oprah and Ellen and discovers a world exists she wasn’t aware of.
• The little girl has a new sense of purpose now that she’s responsible for her own little one.
• The little girl loses herself in laundry, meals, and soccer games so much that weeks turn into years.
• The little girl has a parent get cancer and death stares her in the eye.
• The little girl pleads with her higher power to keep her loved ones safe.
• The little girl is flooded with memories from her childhood that rocks every fabric of her being.
• The little girl becomes unsatisfied with the way her husband responds to her.
• The little girl goes to therapy because she feels grown women shouldn’t feel this way.
• The little girl wishes she could just go back to being that little girl before all the pain and wounds set in.
• The little girl slowly learns healthy steps to enrich her life.
• The little girl grieves the loss of many loved ones and lost relationships.
• The little girl celebrates life with her children’s weddings and arrival of grandkids.
• The little girl still feels inadequate when the cool grandparents don’t accept her.
• The little girl feels betrayed by her children when they move her into a nursing home.
• The little girl accepts her life she’s been given and learns to live peacefully even though surrounded by death.
• The little girl is finally satisfied that without being handed any rules, she did her best at figuring out life as she went.
• The little girl says goodbye to her family and goes back into the unknown from whence she came.
• The little girl enjoyed her experience so much that she decides to try it all again but as a little boy this time.
• There once was a little boy who didn’t understand all the rules………….

We all have a little girl or a little boy that accompanies each of us on our journey. Treat them well.

Peace my friends!

~Travis

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