When I was younger I didn't think I wanted to have children, even though I was raised in an environment where children are championed and encouraged. And then my nephew was born. And we became the best of buds from the time he could distinguish different people. We are still like that with one another and he's 16 years old.
2 years later my daughter was born. And throughout the 14 years of her life, she has been a mirror to me that I could never have found elswhere. There have been times in my life that I've made decisions based on the fact that I am responsible for her. There have been many, many more times I've made decisions because I love her so much. The love you have for a child is something one can only describe by having one and traveling down that road, bumpy as it might be along the way.
I could gush on and on about this wonderful being I was part of creating. I am just thankful that I changed my mind about wanting to do that.
Yeah, it's a cruel world out there. But the world is what we make it. If something like an Armageddon happens, it will take all of us; me and my daughter both. And then I hope I am with her to hold her hand. In the mean time, the children of the world are what provide those smiles we need every day. They don't have the pressures we do and they can say and do the funniest things- whether they are yours or someone else's.
Think of how many smiles you get when you are out and about and see a child- being a child.
XW- my 185 cents