Today I ride a jeepney with a Grandma with her seven
grandchildren. Seven of them! They were
cousins for sure. And they were looking so neat. I was instantly reminded of my
childhood and my grandma too. I was looking at them and smiling when suddenly the
grandma turn to one of the girls and said "Your mom does not send us money
anymore. I wish your mom died instead of your dad. You are so clumsy. How are
you going to manage once you’re a maid?"
Grandma, WHATTT???
I can feel the energy
inside the motorcycle. The shame, the pain was just…it
hurts. I want to grab the girl and cover her ears. I want to tell her, "Don’t
believe any prediction that does not empower you. Don’t believe what you know
in your heart isn’t right and true." I want the hurt to stop.
I hope adults would be careful with the words they say in
front of children. I hope they would be aware enough to know that children
have tender hearts. I wish people could be sensitive enough to feel other
people’s pain. And be kind.
Hurtful words wound. It wound so deep it mars the soul. And
sometimes the wound takes a lifetime to heal. Adults’ carries anger and resentments in
themselves that sometimes it is so easy to let it all out to children. It's
like magma overflowing from the mouth of a mountain destroying everything it
touches. Not to a child, please not to a child.
