I enjoyed this....hope you do!

A letter from Grandma

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, homemade
ice-cream and meat loaf sandwiches. I really would.

My cherished grandson, I hope you learn humility by being humiliated,
and that you learn honesty by being cheated. I hope you learn to make
your bed and mow the lawn and wash the car. And I really hope nobody
gives you a brand new car when you are sixteen. I hope you have a job
by then.

It will be good if at least one time you can see a baby calf born and
your old 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 Disney 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 your driver doesn't have 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 to make one
instead of buying one. I hope you learn to dig in the dirt and read
books. When you learn to use those newfangled computers, I hope you
also learn to add and subtract in your head.

I hope you get razzed 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 taste like.  May you skin your knee climbing a mountain,
burn your hand on a stove and stick your tongue on a frozen flagpole.

I hope you get sick when someone blows cigar smoke in your face. I
don't care if you try 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's 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 the joy
of holidays.

I hope your mother punishes you when you throw a baseball through the
neighbors window and that she hugs you at Christmas time when you
give her a plaster of Paris mold of your hand.  These things I wish
for you - tough times and disappointment, hard work and happiness.

-END-



Astrid Christensen-Tasong
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