1、If I should have a daughterSarah KayIf I should have a daughter, instead of Mom, shes going to call me Point B, because thats how she knows no matter what happens, at least she can always find her way to me. And Im going to paint solar systems on the backs of her hands. So she has to learn the entir
2、e universe, before she can say, “Oh, I know that like the back of my hand.” And shes going to learn that this life will hit you hard in the face, wait for you to get back up just so it can kick you in the stomach. But getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way to remind your lungs how much
3、they like the taste of air. There is hurt, here, that cannot be fixed by Band-Aids or poetry. So the first time she realizes that Wonder Woman isnt coming, Ill make sure she knows she doesnt have to wear the cape all by herself because no matter how wide your stretch your fingers, your hands will al
4、ways be too small to catch all the pain you want to heal. Believe me, Ive tried. “And, baby,” Ill tell her, dont keep your nose up in the air like that. I know that trick; Ive down it a million times. Youre just smelling for smoke so you can follow the trail back to a burning house, so you can find
5、the boy who lost everything in the fire to see if you can save him. Or else find the boy who lit the fire in the first place, to see if you can change him. But I know she will anyway, so instead Ill always keep an extra supply of chocolate and rain boots nearby, because there is no heartbreak that c
6、hocolate cant fix. Okay, therere a few heartbreaks that chocolate cant fix. But thats what the rain boots are for, because rain will wash away everything, if you let it. I want her to look at the world through the underside of a glass-bottom boat, to look through a microscope at the galaxies that ex
7、ist on the pinpoint of a human mind, because thats the way my mom taught me. That therell be days like this. (Singing) therell be days like this, my momma said. When you open your hands to catch and wind up with only blisters and bruises; when you step out of the phone booth and try to fly and the v
8、ery people you want to save are the ones standing on your cape; when your boots will fill with rain, and youll be up to our knees in disappointment. And those are the very days you have all the more reason to say thank you. Because theres nothing more beautiful than the way the ocean refuses to stop
9、 kissing the shoreline, no matter how many times its sent away. You will put the wind in winsome, lose some. Youll put the star in starting over, and over. And no matter how many land mines erupt in a minute, be sure your mind lands on the beauty of this funny place called life. And yes, on a scale
10、from one to over-trusting, I am pretty damn nave. But I want her to know that this world is made out of sugar. It can crumble so easily, but dont be afraid to stick to your tongue out and taste it. “Baby,” Ill tell her, “remember, your momma is a worrier, and your poppa is a warrior, and you are the
11、 girl with small hands and big eyes who never stops asking for more.” Remember that good things come in threes and so bad things. And always apologize when youve done something wrong, but dont you ever apologize for the way your eyes refuse to stop shining. Your voice is small, but dont ever stop singing. And when they finally hand you heartache, when they slip war and hatred under your door and offer you handouts on street-corners of cynicism and defeat, you tell them that they really ought to meet your mother. Thank you!
