Some Words...

I had a wonderful conversation with my niece last night. We talked about life and how sometimes it downright sucks but the best thing about it is that there is always another day to make different or better than the day before. She told me how scared and excited she is to be leaving grade school and entering high school next Fall. She likes her school and she afraid to leave it, it's comfortable and safe but she loves the possibilities that high school will bring. As I sat there listening to this child, this young woman, talk about her fears and how she wants to overcome them I was amazed at her strength. I have to admit that she reminds me of a younger version of myself and that makes me smile because as damaged as I might have been - I was strong and I survived. We also talked about her day and how disappointed she was because she had to read a poem that she wrote for English class in front of all her friends. She wrote it about a boy she liked and he didn't pay attention when she read it aloud so it hurt her feelings. Part of me laughed a little...on the inside...but I told her not to be surprised because honestly it takes boys a long long time to pay attention to the things most important (no offense guys). I told her to write things for her and not for an audience because that's the only person that truly needed to pay attention. She said she wanted to be a writer - she has a lot to say and I smiled because when I was young that's what I wanted to do - write words that made people feel something. It took me years of writing words to realize that the person that needed to feel something, was me. I truly believe that the most talented writers in this world are people that have experienced pain in their lives. People who have loved and lost, people who have fallen and gotten up, people who have failed and then succeeded, those are the people who write from the only place that really counts - their heart.

I do believe my niece will be a wonderful writer and just maybe someday a scared, broken young woman will read her words and realize that her tomorrows can be different, can be better - then they were the day before.