I Trust You'll Treat Her Well
World I bequeath to you today one little girl in a crispy dress.. with two
blue eyes...
And a happy laugh that ripples all day long, and a batch of light blonde hair
that bounces in the sunlight 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 at school.
And never again will she be completely mine...
Prim and proud, she'll wave a young and independent hand this morning, and say
good-bye and walk with little-lady steps to the nearby schoolhouse...
Gone will be the chattering little hoyden who lived only for play, and gone
will be the delightful little gamin who roamed the yard like a proud princess
with nary a care in her little world.
Now, she will learn to stand in lines...and wait by the alphabet for her name
to be called...
She will learn to tune her little-girl ears for the sound of school bells, and
for deadlines...
She will learn to giggle and gossip... And to look at the ceiling in a
disinterested way when the little boy across the aisle sticks out his tongue.
Now she will learn to be jealous... and now she will learn how it is to feel
hurt inside...and now she will learn how not to cry... No longer will she
have time to sit on the front porch steps on a summer day and watch while an
ant scurries across a crack in the sidewalk...
Or will she have time to pop out of bed with the dawn to kiss lilac blossoms
in the morning dew... Now she will worry about important things...like
grades...and what dresses to wear...and whose best friend is whose...Now she
will worry about the little boy who pulls her hair at recess time... and
staying after school...and which little girls like which little boys...And the
magic of books and knowledge will soon take the place of the magic of her
blocks and dolls.
And she'll find her new heroes... For five full years I've been her sage and
Santa Claus... her pal and playmate...her parent and friend... Now, alas,
she'll learn to share her worship and adoration with her teachers (which is
only right)...
No longer will her parents be the smartest, and greatest in the world...
Today, when the first school bell rings, she'll learn how it is to be a member
of the group.. with all its privileges, and, of course, its disadvantages,
too.
She'll learn in time that proper young ladies don't laugh out loud... or keep
frogs in pickle jars in bedrooms.. or watch ants scurry across the cracks in a
summer sidewalk...
Today, she'll begin to learn for the first time that all who smile at her are
not her friends... That "the group" can be a demanding mistress... And I'll
stand on the porch and watch her start out on the long, long journey to
becoming a woman..
So WORLD, I BEQUEATH TO YOU TODAY ONE Little girl in a crispy dress... with
two blue eyes... a happy laugh that ripples all day long, and a batch of light
blonde hair that bounces in the sunlight when she runs.
I TRUST YOU'LL TREAT HER WELL.
By Dan Valentine
From the book "American Essays: Sentimental Classics Designed to Make the
Heart Sing".
Published by Geo. Mc Co., Box 15671, Salt Lake City, Utah 84115
Copyright dates: 1960, 1961, 1963, 1965, and 1966 by Dan Valentine
................
This was given to me 24 years ago when my
daughter Kristal started school. Today I'd like to pass it on to the other
parents who'll feel the movement as I did, and still do.
Bonnie King-Moran
Miami, FL
September 1999
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