1st Day of School: August 2003 Archives

This was read on a local radio show featuring Johnboy and Billy. Everytime I read through it tears come to my eyes. My Daughter's First Day of School Dear World, I bequeath to you today one little girl in a new dress with big brown eyes and a happy laugh that ripples all day long…and a head of light brown hair that bounces in the sun when she runs. I trust you'll treat her well. She's slipping out of the backyard of my heart this morning and skipping off down the street to her first day of school. And never again will she be completely mine. Prim and proud she'll wave her young and independent hand this morning and say "Goodbye" and walk with little lady steps to school. Now she'll learn to stand in lines and wait by the alphabet for her name to be called. She'll learn to tune her ears for the sounds of school bells…and she'll learn to giggle…and gossip…and look at the ceiling in a disinterested way when the little boy across the aisle sticks out his tongue at her. And now she'll learn to be jealous. And now she'll learn how it is to feel hurt inside. And now she'll learn how not to cry. Now she'll worry about those important things…like grades and which dress to wear and whose best friend is whose. And the magic of books and learning will replace the magic of her dolls. Today when that school bell rings for the first time…she'll learn what it means to be a member of the group…with all its privileges and its disadvantages too. She'll learn in time that proper young ladies do not laugh out loud…or kiss dogs…or keep frogs in pickle jars in bedrooms…or even watch ants scurry across cracks in sidewalks in the summer. Today she'll learn for the first time that all who smile at her are not her friends. And I'll stand on the front porch and watch her start out on a the long, lonely journey to becoming a woman. So, world, I bequeath to you today one little girl…in a new dress with big brown eyes and a head of light brown hair that bounces in the sunlight when she runs. I trust you'll treat her well.